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Europe creates drastic U-turn from green energy says Qatar energy minister

Europe creates drastic U-turn from green energy says Qatar energy minister

Europe creates drastic U-turn from green energy says Qatar energy minister

Europe creates drastic U-turn from green energy says minister

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  • Rising energy prices are “painfully weighing” on the world economy and making it harder to switch to green energy.
  • Saad al-Kaabi spoke at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) conference in Japan.
  • Europe will have to bring in about 200 million tonnes of LNG over the next ten years to stop using Russian gas.
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Saad al-Kaabi, the CEO of QatarEnergy and the state minister for energy, said on Thursday that rising energy prices are “painfully weighing” on the world economy and making it harder to switch to green energy.

At a liquefied natural gas (LNG) conference in Japan, Kaabi said, “Unfortunately, the growing economic burden has put a damper on the excitement about the energy transition plans. This has led to a big drop in public support for cutting carbon emissions.”

“Many countries particularly in Europe which had been strong advocates of green energy and carbon-free future have made a sudden and sharp U-turn. Today, coal burning is once again on the rise reaching its highest levels since 2014.”

Europe’s governments have spent hundreds of billions of euros on tax cuts, handouts, and subsidies to deal with the continent’s worst energy crisis in decades. This crisis is causing inflation to rise, forcing businesses to stop making things, and raising bills before winter.

Analysts think that Europe will have to bring in about 200 million tonnes of LNG over the next ten years in order to stop using Russian gas. Germany is Europe’s biggest buyer of Russian gas. To replace the 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of pipeline gas it used to get from Moscow, it would take about 40 million tonnes of LNG on its own.

Kaabi said it was important to invest in cleaner and more renewable energy sources, such as natural gas, to increase capacity and baseload.

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“The lack of such investments puts a heavy burden on both producers and consumers,” he said at the online LNG Producer-Consumer Conference 2022 being held in Tokyo. “Producers must find supplies that may not exist because of the lack of investments.”

The head of Saudi oil giant Aramco (2222.SE) said the same thing earlier this month. He said that the problem was caused by not investing enough in hydrocarbons at a time when fossil fuel alternatives were still not easy to find.

QatarEnergy, one of the biggest LNG producers in the world, is spending almost $30 billion on the Gulf state’s North Field East expansion. This will increase Qatar’s liquefaction capacity from 77 mtpa to 126 mtpa by 2027.

The CEO of Germany’s biggest power company, RWE (RWEG.DE), said earlier this month that Europe needed to invest more in LNG terminals on land to ensure long-term fuel shipments from gas producers around the world.

Germany has rented four floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) that can bring in at least 5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas from the sea every year. It will also rent a fifth LNG terminal that floats on water for the winter of 2023–2024.

In July, the European Parliament backed EU rules that say investments in gas and nuclear power plants are good for the environment.

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