Experts warn of climate risks amid return to coal
by some EU countries
- Reopening coal power plants in Europe 'not good for
the economy' and energy independence of EU, experts warn
International Relations, Europe, Asia
23.06.2022 15:04
Experts warn of climate risks amid return to coal by
some EU countries
As some
European Union countries return to coal to fulfill their energy demand amid
Russia's war in Ukraine, experts are warning of climate risks if these
regulations do not remain short-term.
'Germany,
Austria, the Netherlands but also France are actually now reactivating some
coal power plants, which is very bad news,' said Neil Makaroff, an EU policy
officer at Climate Action Network France, an umbrella group on climate.
Though
these 'very short term' moves do not undermine targets to phase out coal completely
by 2030, they still pose 'a big risk' due to the environmental impact and cost
of coal, Makaroff told Anadolu Agency.
'This would
be absolutely dramatic regarding the climate fight, because basically coal is
the most emissive, polluting source of energy,' he said, adding that coal 'is
now very expensive as well.'
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
warned against 'backsliding on the dirty fossil fuels' following announcements
by some European countries such as Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands that
they would turn to coal with Russia's war on Ukraine affecting energy supplies.
'We have to
make sure that we use this crisis to move forward,' von der Leyen said in an
interview with various European media outlets.
On June 15,
Russian energy giant Gazprom said some technical equipment sent to the German
firm Siemens for maintenance had not yet been returned and warned that gas
shipments through the Nord Stream pipeline would decrease.
Gazprom
said that only up to 67 million cubic meters (over 2.3 billion cubic feet) of
daily gas supplies could be provided through the pipeline as of June 16 -- a
60% reduction.
The
Netherlands, Germany, and Austria announced that they would put into use their
coal plants to reduce gas consumption with the aim of filling gas storage
facilities.
-
Investments in renewables, energy efficiency
Sarah
Brown, a senior analyst at Ember, an independent energy think tank, underlined
that European governments are making it clear that any increase in the burning
of coal would only be temporary.
'Germany
has stated that the gas replacement reserve will be set up for only a limited
time (until March 31, 2024). It will also be combined with increased energy
efficiency and demand management. Germany has at the same time reiterated that
the coal phaseout by 2030 is more important than ever,' Brown noted.
While the
Czech Republic has reiterated its commitment to a 2033 coal phaseout, Brown
said, Romania actually moved its date forward from 2032 to 2030 and the
Netherlands has not said it will change its end of 2029 commitment.
'In its
latest REPowerEU communication, the European Commission stated that despite
temporarily higher coal use in power generation, the climate ambition levels
will be reached since REPowerEU leads to investments in renewables and energy
efficiency beyond the current Fit-for-55 proposals,' she added.
According
to Brown, the current situation has served as a catalyst for clean energy
transition in the EU.
'It has
been recognized that past mistakes regarding continued reliance on imported
fossil fuels and the slow deployment of renewables have caused the energy
crisis.
'Gas is no
longer viewed as a viable transition fuel, and the push now is towards phasing
out both coal and gas as quickly as possible,' she added.
Makaroff
echoed Brown's sentiments, saying that for energy security, and with a green
transition, 'the only option that we have is actually to develop massively
renewable energies in the short term and to reduce our energy consumption
drastically.'
- Alternatives to reopening coal power plants in
Europe
However,
Makaroff said there were alternatives to reactivating coal plants in Europe.
'The
reopening of coal power plants in Europe is not good for the economy, is not
good for the social aspect because it's very expensive, and is not good for the
independence of the European Union,' he said.
'Because
simply, most of the coal that we consume today is imported from other parts of
the world. Maybe not Russia anymore, but from Colombia, Australia, South
Africa,' he added. 'This is also a risk at the end for energy independence in
Europe.'
Sam Van den
plas, a policy director at the Brussels-based Carbon Market Watch, highlighted
the importance of clean renewable energy.
'It is
clear that none of these governments would be in this position had they taken
more serious action in the past to scale up clean renewable power and energy
savings measures,' Van den plas said.
'The
devastating climate and environmental impacts of coal consumption and mining
are well known,' he said. 'It has also long been clear that coal is in structural
decline, and it shouldn't have taken Russia's invasion of Ukraine to realize
that fossil gas is not a solution.'
'Had
governments started earlier heavily investing in clean renewables and
efficiency measures, they wouldn't now be scrambling to procure expensive
fossil gas from across the globe, or importing blood coal from mines where we
know workers are subject to human rights violations,' he noted.
Makaroff backed Van den plas.
'Today,
renewable energies are clearly the only short-term measure that would make
Europe more independent and would avoid harming the climate even more than it
is today.'
'Renewable
energy is the only way to be more independent and to also fight against climate
change,' he added.
- Big risk of short-term measures going long-term
For
Makaroff, the big risk is that measures that are presented as short-term could
linger into the medium- or long-term.
'This should not happen. We should not allow coal
power plants to work after 2023 or 2024,” he said.
'We should definitely phase out coal in Europe by
2030. This is the only way to have cheap energy and to limit dependency on big
superpowers like Russia.'
According
to Brown, this is a lesson to countries outside the EU, especially as the
energy crisis and cost of gas is negatively impacting their ability to secure
supplies.
'We should
see increased acknowledgement that the phasedown of all fossil fuels and the
accelerated deployment of renewables, especially wind and solar, is the
solution,' she added.
Coal will
be a short-term plan to meet energy demand as prices of the highly polluting
fuel are getting higher, according to Guven Sak, the managing director of
TEPAV, an economic policy research center based in the Turkish capital Ankara.
'We are
talking about adapting to a trend 20-30 years from now,' said Sak. 'There may
be deviations of two or three years within the process.'
He added that
it would be best for Türkiye to plan legislation for an exit from coal as soon
as possible.
By Handan Kazanci
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
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