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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month precipitated an energy crisis that is reverberating around the world. The European Union, which depends on Russia for more than 40% of its gas and 25% of its electricity, is feeling the effects more than anywhere else. Oil.
Russian oil and gas exports
To the E.U. In 2021
Natural gas
5.6 trillion cubic yards
Oil: 2.3 Million
barrels per day
Cubic feet worth of natural gas were converted to barrels equivalent to oil.
Russian oil and gas exports
To the E.U. In 2021
Natural gas
5.6 trillion cubic yards
Oil: 2.3 Million
barrels per day
Cubic feet worth of natural gas were converted to barrels equivalent to oil.
Russian oil and gas exports to the E.U. 2021
Oil: 2.3 Million
barrels per day
Natural gas
5.6 trillion cubic yards
Cubic feet worth of natural gas were converted into barrels equivalent to oil.
As European leaders scramble to find alternatives to imported Russian energy, the question is whether this moment will mark a turning point in the fight against global warming — or just a change in fossil fuel vendors.
E.U. Officials announced that the E.U. PlanBy the end of the year, Russian gas imports will be reduced by two-thirds. The bloc plans to end its dependence upon Russian fossil fuels by accelerating renewable energy initiatives that are already underway.
This rapid transition faces many economic, social and logistical hurdles — but it is achievable, according to analyses from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel and the European Commission. Here’s how it might work.
This winter proposes cuts in Russian gas
Experts predict that the E.U. will be ready for winter by this point. The E.U. can import more gas from other sources and invest in clean energy infrastructure that can be deployed quickly. The bloc can reduce its overall energy consumption by combining energy-efficiency measures with reduced energy use.
By 2030, Russian gas will be reduced
Here’s how the E.U. aims to transform its energy system — and sever its dependence on Russia — by the year 2030.
Strategies to reduce dependence on Russian oil
Compared with the E.U.’s plans to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, its hope of eventually achieving independence from Russian oil is technically easier. That’s because a large share of Europe’s oil imports arrive by ship, whereas most of its gas from Russia comes through pipelines. To replace Russian imports ships can be dispatched anywhere in the world.
There are also major Technical and logistical challenges looming that have made European leaders resist pressure to join the U.S. and Canadian bans on Russian oil, even as they’ve announced plans to phase out natural gas.
First, rerouting oil shipments around the continent can’t happen overnight. Second, European refineries were set up to refine Russian crude oil. They might not be as efficient at producing gasoline or other petroleum products from imports from other countries.
“At the moment, Europe’s supply of energy for heat generation, mobility, power supply and industry cannot be secured in any other way,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said earlier this month, calling Russian supplies “essential” to Europe’s economy for now.
This leaves Europe and the rest the world with only one lever to pull to curb. Both rising oil prices, and Russian imports: demand.
