Letter from Brussels: Gas still fuelling EU's green transition

The European Commission's transition plans, along with rising coal-to-gas switching, are entrenching gas in the EU energy mix

The European Commission is following through on its mantra that natural gas is key to the bloc’s energy transition. And coal-reliant member states appear to finally be falling in line, with increasingly diversified natural gas supplies and the EU's Green Deal plans contributing to coal-to gas switching. The Commission's energy system integration strategy, unveiled earlier this summer, states that natural gas will still account for c.20pc of gaseous fuels used in the EU by mid-century, with the remainder a mix of "biogas, biomethane, hydrogen or synthetic gases—[that] is hard to project". But with the Commission hoping for greater electrification in the region, it anticipates overall gas dema