War adds impetus to Europe’s gas decarbonisation

Gas businesses have embraced the acceleration of decarbonisation prompted by the Ukraine war but are concerned about the feasibility of new targets—especially for hydrogen

EU businesses were facing an avalanche of legislation even before the war in Ukraine, most notably the ‘Fit for 55’ package, adopted by the European Commission in July 2021, and the hydrogen and gas decarbonisation package, adopted in December 2021. These proposals alone would have kept stakeholders busy for months. Russia’s invasion of its neighbour in February has ramped up the legislative agenda considerably with what EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson described at last week’s annual Eurogas conference as “our blueprint for removing Russian fossil [fuels] from our system as early as possible”—the RepowerEU proposals, published in May. 31pc – Share of Russian gas imports into EU