EU countries agree deal to cut use of gas this winter

[Frankolala]

   Due to the shortage of gas in EU base on reduction of gas supply from Russia, EU countries have come to agreement to voluntarily cut the reduce of gas consumption this winter by 15%.
    EU countries assumed that Russia might cut the supply that pumps through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs into Germany.

 Do you think this will help solve the EU gas shortage for now




news.sky.com/story/ukraine-news-live-putin-looting-steel-bound-for-uk-major-deal-to-relieve-food-crisis-to-be-signed-russian-forces-increasing-missile-use-12541713

[Johnyz]

Depends if the people will cooperate or this will cause for another price increase since the supply will become more limited. Most probably they didn’t anticipate this one, and now the sanctions are hitting their back, hopefully they can find the alternatives since Russia is not the only one who export the gas though it’s pretty cheap but EU have no more choice but to look for alternatives and a better solution.

[darkangel11]

You can't do it just like that. Restaurants and bakeries use natural gas. You cut supply, you force them to buy electric furnaces, which puts more pressure on the grid and increases food prices. By pushing for green energy we've put the world in this crisis.

[Hispo]

If Russians end up cutting all the gas flow to Western Europe by next winter, I'd expect Germany to start reactivating even more coal fueled power plants to endure this year. Russia will probably take advantage of the winter to bend the political position of Russian gas dependant countries at his favor, a punishment.

Once Germany and allies welcome Spring, they might turn off the coal plants again and continue to implement green energy.

[AmoreJaz]

If Russians end up cutting all the gas flow to Western Europe by next winter, I'd expect Germany to start reactivating even more coal fueled power plants to endure this year. Russia will probably take advantage of the winter to bend the political position of Russian gas dependant countries at his favor, a punishment.

Once Germany and allies welcome Spring, they might turn off the coal plants again and continue to implement green energy.

for sure, these people will find their way out to survive if Russians will ultimately cut their gas supplies to this region. at this generation, we do have now more options to survive as there are so many technologies available now. i don't think Russians cutting gas will give an ultimatum to the lives of these people. they may even find better alternatives to this Russian gas.

[Hispo]

-snip-

they may even find better alternatives to this Russian gas.

Yes, in the long term. For now politicians need to put their environmental ideal and the well-being of the people in the short term on a scale and decide.
In my opinion, this is not about surviving, it is about living. I have never been in Europe but I assume people there are accustomed to a fairly high living standard (which requires energy) they have taken for granted, Putin knows it.

This is about using gas as an economical/political weapon to damage the life of the average European citizen, make them stop living and turn them to "survival mode", in other words, decreasing that living stardard.

[Darker45]

What choice do they have? They've got no choice but to reduce consumption, not because that's the better option but because that's the only option. Of course, alternatives are being explored but I doubt they could be available for use right away. So there's really no other way but reduction on its use. At the very least, however, it's voluntary. Also, it's just 15% reduction. So if we could deduce something from this, it suggests that the situation is not that dire that it's a matter of survival.

[cabron]

They don't need to do that. Russia didn't cut the supply to them. But they may need to  use more gas instead to heat up. They need gas to turn on air conditioners just when heat also rises. They recently did experienced the hottest days in EU. Every thing you  turn on needs electricity which is powered by the gas that's the reality there.

They couldn't just approve that water powered engines,  winter makes it abundant with water. And we have seen cars powered with water thats a good option.

Know why they  couldn't approve that? Maybe the powerful guys above wouldn't make money.

[Mauser]

   Due to the shortage of gas in EU base on reduction of gas supply from Russia, EU countries have come to agreement to voluntarily cut the reduce of gas consumption this winter by 15%.
    EU countries assumed that Russia might cut the supply that pumps through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs into Germany.

 Do you think this will help solve the EU gas shortage for now

This deal seems to be voluntarily for some countries, and other countries in the EU are completely exempt from it. Small island countries like Ireland and Cyprus are not linked to the European mainland gas pipelines and don't need to follow the rules. Same goes for the Baltic countries, they rely heavily for their electricity on gas and the risk for the countries electricity grid to collapse is to high, and of course Hungary opposed any deals. To me it seems that the European Union is too afraid to make strict rules for everybody and will be too soft in the end to not look authoritarian. These 15% will not solve any shortages during the winter. Russian already dropped the gas supply in the pipelines to 20% of it's normal output and cites  technical difficulties as the reason. Obviously it's all politics now and Putin wants to increase the cost for Europe to support Ukraine.

[Zilon]

If the consumption is to be cut by 15% i think the EU will just have to adapt except they will have to opt for another alternative such has green hydrogen. The Russians has already announced they will be cutting their deliveries to one of the biggest pipelines to Europe by half meaning a treat to a possible future shortage of gas supply and a possible inflation if an alternative is not found.

[bakasabo]

I believe not everyone agrees to cut gas usage. I think as usually, government did not consult people and made decisions. People are living in different houses. Some have modern radiators, some have old 40-50 years old, some have heat regulators, but everyone will have less warmth this winter. Those who froze last winter, will feel even worse, while others wont feel difference from usage reduction. Reduction wont solve gas shortage, it will only prolong its usage. Anyway all reserves will end one day.

[mindrust]

   Due to the shortage of gas in EU base on reduction of gas supply from Russia, EU countries have come to agreement to voluntarily cut the reduce of gas consumption this winter by 15%.
    EU countries assumed that Russia might cut the supply that pumps through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs into Germany.

 Do you think this will help solve the EU gas shortage for now




news.sky.com/story/ukraine-news-live-putin-looting-steel-bound-for-uk-major-deal-to-relieve-food-crisis-to-be-signed-russian-forces-increasing-missile-use-12541713

Freezing during winter will indeed solve the problem. However, cutting the gas consumption by 15% will only solve 15% of the problem.

If they can manage to use 0% gas then the problem of using the Russian gas will be gone completely. You might wanna ask now, what about the problem of German citizens freezing during winter by 100%? Well, nobody gives a damn.

Donald warned these cucks a while ago. "DON'T BUY GAS FROM RUSSIA."

They didn't listen.

[Sithara007]

I don't know why these EU guys are making so much fuss now. They wanted to get rid of Russian gas, and now Russia is helping them to achieve that goal by cutting down the gas supplies. They can re-activate the coal and nuclear power plants, or receive LNG from USA and Qatar. Or better, they can just ration the existing gas supply and ask the EU citizens to switch off their ACs and other appliances. BTW, I checked the live gas prices from EU, and right now, they are trading at around $2,000 per thousand cubic meters. Two years ago, natural gas was trading at less than $100 per thousand cubic meters.

[be.open]

BTW, I checked the live gas prices from EU, and right now, they are trading at around $2,000 per thousand cubic meters. Two years ago, natural gas was trading at less than $100 per thousand cubic meters.

Two dollars per cubic meter of gas at the hub is already very expensive. To heat a medium-sized house in winter with a gas boiler, you need to burn about 500 cubic meters of gas per month. I think many households in Europe will need subsidies to cope with heating and electricity bills.

[Lucius]

Two dollars per cubic meter of gas at the hub is already very expensive. To heat a medium-sized house in winter with a gas boiler, you need to burn about 500 cubic meters of gas per month. I think many households in Europe will need subsidies to cope with heating and electricity bills.

People are already managing in various ways, and from Germany, which is a kind of landmark within the EU, news is coming about the massive demand for wood-burning stoves. Even in my area, people still widely use this method of heating, which is not so expensive if we consider that 1 cubic meter of wood costs around 50 EUR (in my country). For an average household, 1000 EUR is quite enough to keep them warm all winter, and if the winter happens to be mild, they will certainly not spend it all.


Regarding the supply of gas from the US (LNG), according to the news I have read, it seems that the US will deliver everything promised, and even more if necessary. With all the other sources mentioned (Canada, Qatar, Nigeria...) and if it is possible to really reduce consumption by 15%, the EU will manage to survive until next spring - unless we are hit by some wicked winter, and given that summer is terrible, I wouldn't be surprised if winter was memorable too - misfortune never comes alone.

[be.open]

Two dollars per cubic meter of gas at the hub is already very expensive. To heat a medium-sized house in winter with a gas boiler, you need to burn about 500 cubic meters of gas per month. I think many households in Europe will need subsidies to cope with heating and electricity bills.

People are already managing in various ways, and from Germany, which is a kind of landmark within the EU, news is coming about the massive demand for wood-burning stoves. Even in my area, people still widely use this method of heating, which is not so expensive if we consider that 1 cubic meter of wood costs around 50 EUR (in my country). For an average household, 1000 EUR is quite enough to keep them warm all winter, and if the winter happens to be mild, they will certainly not spend it all.


Regarding the supply of gas from the US (LNG), according to the news I have read, it seems that the US will deliver everything promised, and even more if necessary. With all the other sources mentioned (Canada, Qatar, Nigeria...) and if it is possible to really reduce consumption by 15%, the EU will manage to survive until next spring - unless we are hit by some wicked winter, and given that summer is terrible, I wouldn't be surprised if winter was memorable too - misfortune never comes alone.

As far as I know, the practice of central heating is not very common in Europe, and each homeowner is forced to solve the issue of heating his home on his own. I hope the European Union will be able to avoid many unnecessary deaths from hypothermia this coming winter. I am Russian, but I would not approve of Putin if he allowed such a humanitarian catastrophe in Europe. No matter how aggressively European politicians behave towards Russia, ordinary Europeans do not deserve a rollback to the Middle Ages for the short-sighted decisions of their leaders.

[doomloop]

I believe not everyone agrees to cut gas usage. I think as usually, government did not consult people and made decisions. People are living in different houses. Some have modern radiators, some have old 40-50 years old, some have heat regulators, but everyone will have less warmth this winter. Those who froze last winter, will feel even worse, while others wont feel difference from usage reduction. Reduction wont solve gas shortage, it will only prolong its usage. Anyway all reserves will end one day.

Obviously because not all are the same but there are those who will be needing more gas for some important reasons but what can they do if that's what's being ordered for them? Nothing, but they will just follow it whether they liked it or not, or else they will pay big for it.

Sometimes a government can make decisions with their own as they also know that people will disagree on what they are planning so they think it's better if they will just surprise them as they can't do anything with it anymore once it happened. This move may not totally solve the problems that they are currently facing but maybe it still helps somehow? So, that's still better.

[Hydrogen]

Some might expect year round temperatures to follow a linear path, where a hotter average summer is naturally followed by a hotter than average winter.

I hope everyone remembers global warming is complimented by another climate change process known as global dimming.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_dimming

Global dimming creates the potential for hotter summers in conjunction with colder winters through air pollution blocking or reflecting warming sunlight.

Climate change itself is defined by a two part process where summer becomes hotter (global warming) and winter becomes colder (global dimming).

As long as people remember that, and don't expect a warm winter, I guess everything will be cool (no pun intended).

[Sithara007]

As far as I know, the practice of central heating is not very common in Europe, and each homeowner is forced to solve the issue of heating his home on his own. I hope the European Union will be able to avoid many unnecessary deaths from hypothermia this coming winter. I am Russian, but I would not approve of Putin if he allowed such a humanitarian catastrophe in Europe. No matter how aggressively European politicians behave towards Russia, ordinary Europeans do not deserve a rollback to the Middle Ages for the short-sighted decisions of their leaders.

I would disagree with you here. Russia supplied around 40% of the natural gas to the European Union until 2021. Even of the supplies from Russia get reduced to zero, EU will have the remaining 60%. And probably it will be around 70%-80% taking in to account the increased supplies from USA and Qatar. Whatever shortfall there will be borne by the industries and it will not affect the households. I don't think that the EU politicians will prefer manufacturing and electricity generation over household gas supply. And Russia should be happy if the manufacturing sector in the EU gets negatively impacted.

[be.open]

As far as I know, the practice of central heating is not very common in Europe, and each homeowner is forced to solve the issue of heating his home on his own. I hope the European Union will be able to avoid many unnecessary deaths from hypothermia this coming winter. I am Russian, but I would not approve of Putin if he allowed such a humanitarian catastrophe in Europe. No matter how aggressively European politicians behave towards Russia, ordinary Europeans do not deserve a rollback to the Middle Ages for the short-sighted decisions of their leaders.

I would disagree with you here. Russia supplied around 40% of the natural gas to the European Union until 2021. Even of the supplies from Russia get reduced to zero, EU will have the remaining 60%. And probably it will be around 70%-80% taking in to account the increased supplies from USA and Qatar. Whatever shortfall there will be borne by the industries and it will not affect the households. I don't think that the EU politicians will prefer manufacturing and electricity generation over household gas supply. And Russia should be happy if the manufacturing sector in the EU gets negatively impacted.

I hope that you are right, and that heavy energy-intensive industry will bear the brunt of the gas shortage in Europe.

Unfortunately or fortunately, I know history all too well, in particular the oil crisis in the 1970s. The real decline in oil supplies from the Middle East then amounted to only 7%, the rest were only verbal interventions. And this slight decline caused the worst global economic crisis with empty gas stations and solar panels on the White House. The volatility of gas prices in Europe right now reminds me of the price chart of shitcoins.