The catastrophic Russian-Ukrainian conflict has led to widespread economic sanctions from Europe and the United States, but now that pressure on Moscow is banning Russian fossil fuels, it has also sparked a new sense of urgency among Europeans seeking an oil transition. and dependence on natural gas.
The United States on Tuesday announced a total ban on energy imports from Russia, with President Joe Biden sending a double message. On the one hand, Biden said the United States is aware that European countries such as Germany are more limited in their immediate response due to existing dependence on Russian imports.
He said the United States was working with EU and NATO partners to develop a “long-term strategy” to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.
“This crisis is a serious reminder: to protect our economy in the long run, we need to become energy independent,” Biden said. “Over the last three months, I have had many conversations with our European friends about how to wean them off Russia? Russian oil. It’s just not? It’s just unbearable. “
Biden added that the European crisis points to the need to accelerate the transition to clean energy.
“This is a prospect, as I said, shared by our European allies, and a future where together we can achieve greater independence,” he said. At the same time, however, he seems to have encouraged increased fossil fuel production in the U.S. to achieve this independence in the short term.
Russian oil accounts for a third of European oil imports, and the United States – less than 10%, according to the White House. As of last year, at 4.5 million barrels a day, Europe imports more than six times more oil from Russia than the U.S., while the U.S. produces enough oil domestically to be a net exporter of oil and gas.
“We are moving forward with this ban, realizing that many of our European allies and partners may be unable to join us,” the White House said. U.S. economic sanctions against Russia have been discussed with Germany, France, Britain and other partners.
Meanwhile, the European Commission on Tuesday focused on ways to sharply and quickly end its member states’ dependence on Russian energy resources. The commission has announced a plan to make Europe independent of Russian oil long before 2030 with measures that the EU says could cut demand for Russian oil by two-thirds by the end of this year.
Accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources and addressing energy costs, among other things, will make it possible to achieve real independence from Russian oil imports, said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“We must become independent of Russian oil, coal and gas. We just can’t count on a supplier who is clearly threatening us, “said von der Leyen, who plans to discuss the issue with other European leaders in Versailles later this week. She appeared with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. shown above, on the eve of this meeting.
“We need to act now to mitigate the effects of rising energy prices, diversify gas supplies for next winter and speed up the transition to clean energy,” said von der Leyen. “The sooner we move to renewable energy and hydrogen combined with greater energy efficiency, the sooner we will become truly independent and master our energy system.”
A report on Europe’s dependence on Russia should accelerate the transition to energy first appeared on the Sustainability Times.
Source: Sustainability time
