The current international crisis has revolutionized EU approach to supply energy. In just two weeks everything was changed but Europe discovered its Achille’s Heel: the lack of energy sources. The European Commission has announced REPowerEU, a new energy plan that focuses entirely on renewable energy and the diversification of supplies.
The goal is to leave dependence on fossil fuels and invest in renewables, with the secondary effect of creating new jobs. The Fit for 55 goal was to reduce gas consumption by 30% by 2030, but the current situation has forced the process to speed up.
To stop the dependence on gas imported from Russia, some ways have been outlined:
- By doubling sustainable production of biomethane we can replace another 18 bcm, using the Common Agricultural Policy to help farmers become energy producers.
- We can also increase the production and import of renewable hydrogen. A Hydrogen Accelerator will develop integrated infrastructure and offer all Member States access to affordable renewable hydrogen. 20 million tonnes of hydrogen can replace 50 bcm of Russian gas.
Furthermore, by the end of this year, almost 25% of Europe’s current electricity production could come from solar energy.
In addition, we need to speed up permitting procedures to grow our on- and offshore wind capacity, and rollout large-scale solar projects. This is a matter of overriding public interest.
The MIEEG project is today more relevant than ever. Our startup is developing an electric, scalable and high-performance micro generator, which will be able to work with different energy systems, such as biofuel, hydrogen, wastewater and renewable energy. This generator could be used to power houses of different sizes, but also to supply power to off-grid farms and for land, air and naval transport.