Deutsche Tagesspiegel: German experts discuss pragmatic aspects of EU energy security strategies

BERLIN, Feb. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In January 2022 the discussion on energy security continued online during the "Energy Security: Pragmatic Approach and Political Challenges" event organized by Deutsche Tagesspiegel. The online expert discussion was seeking to find pragmatic answers to the questions related to the changes that the global energy transitions brings, opportunities and risks associated with the EU Green Deal, energy security and renewable energy sources, controversial issues of nuclear energy, North Stream 2 and Ukraine gas transit affected by the geopolitics.

Commenting on the new carbon tax and other policies emanating from the Green New Deal, which will significantly change the energy market not only in the EU, but also in the partner countries, former member of the German Bundestag Alexander Neu noted that there are still too many questions regarding the specific roadmaps to evaluate how effective the transition will be and if alternative energy sources could actually cover the needs of customers and industries. 

Waldemar Herdt, former member of the German Bundestag says: "Energy security is the most important issue in peaceful times. Of course, if there would be a military conflict, that would be the topical issue, but now when we talk about energy security, it's not only about regular customers and social security, but also for production. The decisions taken now might lead to social unrest due to growing prices and to decrease in production. Nuclear energy is the cleanest type of energy and it can ensure necessary amounts, yet now it falls out of the "green list". It's clear that autonomous energy supply for Germany isn't in the interests of Ukraine, as transit gave them negotiation space and allowed to keep some of the transit gas for their own needs. The relations between Germany and USA can not be called a partnership, it's more like relations of a master, who dictates the rules, and a slave. The US aren't interested in Russian-German cooperation, so they push against it. It's quite clear that North Stream 2 gas is a cleaner energy source than liquefied gas brought in by tankers, yet the "green" are against it".

Christoph Horstel, publicist and federal chairman of Die Neue Mitte, says that North Stream 2 project has been politicized, which doesn't allow to see the actual benefits it could bring, moreover, without external supply and delivery from Gazprom Germany could end up "in its underpants", which means that there is no energy security at the moment, also given the fact that "alternative sources known and applicable today are not sufficient and are fundamentally unsuitable for creating the basic security needed due to extremely high costs and high risks".                

Normunnd Grostins, the head of Latvian Future Research Institute, added that energy security of EU, and particularly, Germany, is threatened by political decisions that are taken without necessary pragmatic evaluation, and this could lead to further economic problems and social unrest.

"In 2022, the geopolitical agenda will still dictate the energy security supply. For the EU, the path towards a greener energy mix is still a remote target. Brussels is always looking for reliable and affordable energy supplies like renewables but EU countries still see nearly 90 % of the oil needs and 70 % of gas to be covered by imports (figures from 2020). As it turns out, even with more renewable energy, imported gas is likely to remain key in the EU's energy mix for decades to come" - says  Professor Roberto de Primis,  diplomat, representative of Belgium in the UN. 

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SOURCE Deutsche Tagesspiegel