A worker at a gas storage facility in Gronau, Germany. Archival photoMOSCOW, May 7th. By 2030, France may replace the share of imported Russian gas with biomethane obtained from agricultural waste, writes the British newspaper Independent. According to the publication, French farmers «supported» Europe «in the fight» for «liberation from Russian gas» by launching small biofuel enterprises.
Shell CEO: Europe will not be able to replace gas from Russia without an energy transition writes the Independent. At the same time, critics believe that instead of switching crops for gas, farmers should grow food, especially against the backdrop of skyrocketing food prices. «Yet biogas is part of the puzzle of how to reduce Europe's energy dependence. that the European Union will be able to hastily increase the production of biomethane for further injection into gas pipelines,” the newspaper reports. So, after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the French government has already taken a number of steps to speed up the production of biomethane. Biomethane covered nearly one percent of the country's needs in 2021, industry officials say, and will rise to at least two percent this year. And by 2030, in their opinion, the share of biogas will be 20% of total consumption, which is more than France imported last year from Russia. At the same time, in Germany, the largest biogas producer in Europe, the government is reducing the share of crops for fuel edition indicates. The allowable share of corn for biogas plants will be reduced from 40% to 30% by 2026, while there will be financial incentives for companies to switch to waste products like manure and straw.
German Finance Ministry: refusal of oil and gas from Russia will hit fuel pricesAccording to the representative of the German Biogas Association Andrea Horbelt, biomethane production can be doubled in a few years, but it will cost a lot. «Biogas for electricity production is more expensive than solar and wind energy, and it will always be so,» warns Horbelt. Biogas is a fuel obtained by hydrogen or methane fermentation of biomass. Earlier, the head of the Czech Ministry of Labor, Marian Yurechka, called for the use of biomethane instead of Russian gas. From April 1, Russia began to accept payments for gas from unfriendly countries in rubles in order to get away from settlements in dollars and euros. President Vladimir Putin clarified that Moscow recognizes the refusal to carry out transactions in the Russian currency as a default on obligations under contracts. Since April 27, Gazprom has suspended gas exports to Bulgaria and Poland due to non-payment. At the same time, the company warned that it would reduce transit to other countries if Sofia and Warsaw began illegal fuel sampling. After the start of the Russian military special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, the West increased sanctions pressure on Moscow. Many countries have announced the freezing of Russian assets, and calls to abandon energy sources have become louder. Nevertheless, all this has already turned into problems for the United States and Europe, provoking an increase in fuel and food prices. /2022/05/8121697e2914bb99e10247dede315291.jpg» />The head of the GIE questioned the EC plan to reduce demand for gas from Russia
