BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 30. Demand for gas in Europe still exceeds 400 billion cubic meters per year, and it is necessary considering the intermittency factor inherent in renewable energy sources, Andrea Qualiano from the Italian Edison company told European media, Trend reports.
"Natural gas is an important resource needed to compensate for potential delays that may arise in deploying new technologies envisaged by the energy transition. It's necessary for flexibility and managing the intermittency inherent in renewable energy sources, and if gas is excluded from all discussions regarding the world's energy transition, we'll ultimately face a shortage of clean energy," Qualiano said.
According to him, since natural gas is already present in the economies of many countries, is abundant in the world, and is available at a price, the European Commission needs more pragmatism to "restore it in discussions of the 'green' agenda.
"The global gas infrastructure is sufficiently advanced, making natural gas competitive compared to other new sources. What needs to be done is to work together across the entire value chain to reduce carbon intensity in gas operations throughout their life cycle and promote more solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This cooperation should be organized not only at the European level but also internationally, so that gas produced in the US or another supplier country can be recognized and certified in Europe. That is, if we take into account and document the efforts of gas producers to reduce emissions, we can demonstrate to our end consumers in Europe that this gas has low carbon intensity," the Edison representative emphasized.
He noted that such an approach could encourage gas producers to invest in decarbonization solutions.
"Gas demand in the EU will remain high and is not expected to drop as quickly as many say. As soon as the EU 'brings back into fashion' natural gas, which is extremely necessary for the economy, European players will have more opportunities to conduct more effective gas negotiations," Qualiano added.