Some 37 directors of gas companies and 20 organisations representing the European gas industry called on the EU institutions, in a letter addressed to them on Monday 19 October, to ensure that all EU financial mechanisms recognise gas as an indispensable part of the energy transition to achieving a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.
The signatories therefore requested that the first delegated regulation establishing the taxonomy for climate change mitigation and adaptation, which is expected to be adopted in the 4th quarter of 2020 (see EUROPE 12453/25), classifies gas as “an enabling activity/transitional activity contributing to climate neutrality”.
They also called for the forthcoming delegated acts adopted within the framework of the EU Taxonomy “to create a level playing field for commercially mature technologies and to ensure that all European gas resources are fully exploited to decarbonise the EU economy in a timely and profitable manner”.
In their opinion, it is particularly important to deploy natural gas to continue to replace coal in power generation and heating wherever possible, and to adopt an equitable approach to the development of hydrogen (from renewable energy sources, natural gas reforming with carbon capture, utilisation and storage technologies – CCUS).
See the letter: https://bit.ly/3je2yqV (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)