Nearly 60 companies and associations representing the European gas sector are calling on EU institutions to support “ambitious and pragmatic policy tools” that will enable the scaling up of all decarbonisation options to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
In a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Charles Michel and Presidency of the Council of the EU, Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier, the industry leaders lobby for natural, renewable and decarbonised gases, along with carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies, to be recognised as an indispensable part of the energy transition towards a carbon neutral economy in 2050.
Highlighting the key role that gas plays in balancing variable renewables at an affordable cost, reducing CO2 emissions and guaranteeing system reliability, the letter asks policymakers to design appropriate EU financing mechanisms enabling swift replacement of coal with gas as a transitional solution to bridge the investment and technological gap.
“Decades of investments have made gas and its infrastructure strategic assets for the EU’s energy system security, stability and affordability,” the letter says.
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