Ursula Von der Leyen forgets LNG is a fossil fuel!

The EU has announced its intention to end its reliance on fossil fuel… by switching to another fossil fuel.

“We must get rid of our dependence on fossil fuel,” President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted. “And we already see the results: for example, American LNG deliveries are up 75%.”

An admirable commitment, you might think. Under the REPowerEU initiative, the EU is seeking to “rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition.”

The problem is that LNG, or liquefied natural gas, is a fossil fuel – using it as a replacement would hardly be the climate-friendly revolution that Von der Leyen was aiming for. In fact, experts have warned that LNG could be just as bad for the environment as coal.#eudebates

The Tweet, unsurprisingly, has since been deleted.

#gazprom #GAS #EUdirective #pipeline #Nordstream2

#eudebates the unique initiative aiming to promote debate, dialogue, knowledge, participation and communication among citizens. #Gas #Energy #Michel #VonderLeyen #Putin #Russia

The European Commission has called to set a price cap on Russian gas. Brussels also said it would ask for a 'solidarity contribution' from oil and gas companies that have made windfall profits during the crisis.

The European Commission proposed a series of measures on Wednesday to control skyrocketing energy prices in Europe and punish Moscow for invading Ukraine, including a price cap on Russian gas.

EU countries are scrambling to face up to a challenging winter ahead, with European consumers facing eye-watering heating bills with natural gas and electricity prices hovering at record levels. Friday's announcement by Russian energy giant Gazprom of a complete shutdown of the crucial Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany has increased fears of hard months ahead for European households.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, warned that any country that introduces a price cap will receive no Russian energy supplies at all: "No gas, no oil, no coal, no fuel oil, nothing."

Against this threatening backdrop, European energy ministers are to meet on Friday to discuss action, and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said she had proposed them a series of measures, including a price cap.

"We are facing an extraordinary situation, because Russia is an unreliable supplier and is manipulating our energy markets," she warned. "Our unity and our solidarity will ensure that we will prevail."

Laying out her plan, Ms. von der Leyen urged member states to agree on a price cap on Russian gas imports, a measure that Mr. Putin has warned would be "an absolutely stupid decision."

The objective here is very clear. We must cut Russia's revenues, which Putin uses to finance this atrocious war against Ukraine," Ms. von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission told reporters.

Ms. von der Leyen also said that certain European power companies that are benefiting from high power prices would see a levy on their revenue and profits. She said this will target firms that are producing electricity at low cost – such as wind or nuclear energy companies – but benefitting from the sky-high prices caused by the war in Ukraine.

"Low carbon energy sources are making unexpected revenues, which do not reflect their production costs," Ms. von der Leyen told reporters. The EU executive will also ask member countries to "re-channel" profits of fossil fuel companies that are seeing historically high revenues thanks to the energy shock caused by the war.

"Oil and gas companies have also made massive profits. We will therefore propose a solidarity contribution for fossil fuel companies," she added.

The EU's energy ministers are set to debate the Commission's ideas, with many countries expected to come to the table with their own proposals. The rotating EU presidency is held by the Czech Republic, and industry minister Jozef Sikela, who will chair Friday's talks, warned that any price cap on gas could be a distraction from efforts to secure energy supply.

"I think it's not a constructive proposal," he told the Czech senate on Wednesday. "This is rather another kind of sanction against Russia than an actual solution to the energy crisis in Europe. And we don't want to prepare further sanctions now, we want to tackle the energy situation."

Energy policy in the 27-member European Union remains largely a national competence despite deep interdependence among many of the countries.