March 13, 2022
Europe has started returning to the "dirtiest" fuel. While Europe is attempting to reduce dependence on Russian gas, the region is increasingly beginning to switch to coal power generation, Bloomberg writes. Although the prices of the dirtiest fossil fuel - coal are rising in the same way as for most other raw materials, in any case it turns out to be cheaper to return to coal than using gas.
So, according to Fraunhofer ISE data, last week, half as much coal was burned at power plants than last year. At the same time, the demand for gas for power generation has decreased.
Despite the fact that the active use of coal undermines plans to combat climate change, the situation may continue in the future. Europe expects that by the end of the year, it will manage to achieve serious reduction of gas supplies from Russia, and companies will inevitably have to rely more on coal, despite all attempts of the region to increase gas imports from other suppliers. In addition, the transition to coal is facilitated by high gas prices, which remain extremely volatile.
While Russia also remains the largest coal importer to Europe - according to estimates for 2020, the country provided for about a third of all supplies. Bearing in mind the concerns about the possible termination of purchases in Russia, traders are starting to look for alternative sources - in Colombia, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia and the USA.
Last week, coal freight units from Russia were still leaving for the UK, Germany and Latvia: EU sanctions have not yet blocked the import of key energy resources. For instance, on March 3, about 30 thousand tons of coal was shipped from Murmansk to Belfast.
Amid rising gas prices last autumn, Europe has been relying more on coal since 2021. So, by 2021, the use of coal compared to 2019 dropped by 3.3 percent - significantly less than in previous years. With the aggravation of geopolitical tensions due to the situation around Ukraine, the European Commission proposed to reduce dependence on Russian gas supplies by two-thirds by the end of this year, and completely refuse this source of imports in the future. This will be possible owing to "the efforts of every European person," the European Commission noted.
Thus, the collective West have placed the welfare of the planet, the fight against climate change, and a healthy environment on one plate of the scales, and the notorious "democratic" European values are on the other. The scales have tilted towards the latter. For Europe, the future of humanity no longer matters. What matter is only here and now! And all talks about geoethical and environmental protection principles turned out to be meaningless phrases.