The EU’s new, more ambitious, climate goal means that the 27-nation bloc, which is the largest consumer of Russian hydrocarbons, will drastically reduce its oil and gas imports in the near future, the energetyka24.com website reported.
It said the plan would deal a powerful blow to the Russian economy, which is largely based on exporting raw materials to Europe.
On Friday, EU leaders reached a long-awaited agreement on tougher targets for curbing emissions.
The 27 member states pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by the end of the decade compared with 1990 levels, a measure in line with the bloc’s earlier commitment to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
To meet the ambitious target, oil consumption across the EU should fall by almost a third and gas consumption needs to be slashed by a quarter by 2030, energetyka24.com reported, citing European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson.
In value terms, the EU intends to reduce the cost of importing hydrocarbons by EUR 100 billion, according to the Polish website.
EU countries aim to phase out both crude oil and natural gas, replacing them with "carbon-free gases," mainly hydrogen, energetyka24.com also reported.
Poland expects to receive up to PLN 230 billion (EUR 50 billion, USD 63 billion) in additional funds from Brussels to mitigate the costs of moving to greener energy in the years ahead, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last week.
(gs/pk)
Source: energetyka24.com