Voicing on the one hand concern about EU deliberations about a stop of oil and gas imports from Russia as having devastating consequences, German Association of Energy and Water Industries (Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft, BDEW) on the other hand calls for increasing renewables as the alternative to gas.
BDEW president Kerstin Andreae said in a statement: “Russia’s war of aggression poses major challenges for the European community, especially with regard to European energy supplies. The voices calling for an immediate gas, coal or oil embargo against Russia are understandable. This is reinforced by Putin’s announcement that gas supplies will have to be paid for in rubles in the future. However, such an embargo would present us with immense, almost devastating economic and social challenges. The EU’s plan to make itself independent of Russian energy imports as quickly as possible is therefore the right way to send an important signal to Russia on the one hand, while at the same time maintaining security of supply in Europe. In the event of an embargo, around 50% of Russian natural gas could be saved and substituted in the short term. This corresponds to around 20% of Germany’s total annual natural gas requirements. However, this would mean, among other things, a switch to coal in particular for power generation, savings in industry and a reduction in space heating in private households. The task now is therefore to work flat out to open up new supply options for natural gas and, at the same time, to make massive progress in expanding renewables.” (This is idiotic: more green triggers a catastrophe as well.)
