New study offers reality check on fossil gas in North Macedonia
January 30, 2024
North Macedonia has ever-more-ambitious plans to increase the use of fossil gas. But these were developed before the recent energy crisis. In addition to the climate havoc, import dependence and fossil-fuel lock-in wrought by gas, a new study shows that pipeline construction costs have increased, high household gasification rates are unlikely, and significant household solar, heat pumps or retrofits could be financed instead.
Time to put an end to Albania’s fossil fuel déjà vu
December 21, 2023
In the last two decades, residents of Vlora, a lively tourist city on the Albanian coast, have had a slew of mostly unsuccessful oil and gas projects foisted on them. No wonder a recent event there called on the government to stop its costly fossil fuel experiments and seize the opportunity to declare Albania’s electricity production and consumption 100 per cent renewable.
Why the Bulgaria-Turkey gas deal could be a Russian Trojan horse
December 13, 2023
Promoted as a means to diversify gas sources, an agreement signed earlier this year by the Bulgarian government to import fossil gas from Turkey is only likely to provide a backdoor for Russian energy and undermine efforts to alleviate Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels
The EU and US are fossil-fooling the Western Balkans with gas How can the region cut to a clean future?
November 29, 2023
The Western Balkans’ energy transition is finally starting to pick up pace. But false solutions such as fossil gas threaten to divert resources and create new fossil-fuel lock-in. So why do the European Union (EU) and United States (US) continue to push such projects in the region and what can be done about it?
Amidst the climate crisis, European Commission green-lights new fossil gas projects in Poland and Croatia
November 22, 2023
Poland and Croatia are set to receive EUR 1.2 billion in EU recovery funds to expand liquefied gas (LNG) terminals and build new pipelines.
Montenegrin NGOs counter Varhelyi pledge on LNG terminal
October 24, 2023
27 civil society organisations have sent a joint letter to the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, (1) questioning a recent statement by Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi that the EU would help Montenegro to build a liquified gas (LNG) terminal at the port of Bar (2), and calling on the EU not to support the project.
Thousands demand European development bank stops financing fossil fuels
September 27, 2023
Over 6200 emails have been sent to the European Bank for Reconstruction Development (EBRD) calling for its next energy policy to end financing for fossil fuels and step up investments in the energy transition.
Legal challenges hit Greece – North Macedonia gas pipeline plans
September 19, 2023
Non-governmental organisations CEE Bankwatch Network and Eko-svest have submitted three formal complaints alleging legal breaches in the planned Greece – North Macedonia fossil gas pipeline project.
Bulgarian government’s Black Sea gas ambitions: a dangerous distraction from a just energy transition
August 8, 2023
In stark contradiction with the urgent need and ambitious measures taken to end Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels, the Bulgarian government is working to join a fossil gas prospecting project in the Black Sea.
Cutting off the pipeline from REPowerEU to the fossil gas industry
July 27, 2023
In May 2022, the European Commission, in response to the energy crisis, launched the REPowerEU plan – a set of measures aimed at ending the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027. The plan emphasises the diversification of gas and oil supply sources, the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources by accelerating Europe’s clean energy transition, and the reduction of energy consumption, primarily gas, in the EU. Yet despite its ambitious scope, the plan excessively prioritises the interests of the fossil fuel industry.
