What are Europe's energy alternatives now that Russian gas is off the cards

Описание: The European Union has spent the last few months imposing sanctions on Russia, from travel bans to asset freezes, alongside other western nations like the US and the UK. And while these impacted Russia more indirectly, many said the measures didn't go far enough - conveniently missing out one very important element - gas.

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Now the EU has announced that it plans to slash Russian gas imports by two-thirds in response to the war in Ukraine. The aim is to significantly reduce reliance on Russian natural gas coming into the bloc by 2023.

In the same week, US President Joe Biden imposed an immediate ban on Russian oil and other energy imports and the UK said it would phase out imports by the end of 2022.

"It’s hard, bloody hard, but it’s possible if we’re willing to go further and faster than we’ve done before," said Frans Timmermans, the vice-president in charge of the EU Green Deal.

The decision was made after fears that European demand for gas may be bankrolling the war in Ukraine.

"When Europe is so dependent on [gas] from Russia, it gives him [Putin] a lot of money. This money has now been spent on transporting troops from Russia to Ukraine's borders," says Sergiy, a Kyiv-based Extinction Rebellion Ukraine member.

Leaders in Europe know that moving away from fossil fuels is a priority in the coming years, if we’re going to limit global warming to below 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels.

Yet, until now, the bloc has continued to pay Russia for oil and gas - non-renewable fuels which produce vast amounts of toxic air and water pollution and make up the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Around 40 per cent of Europe's oil and gas is imported from Russia and Germany is one of the most reliant EU states.

In late February, the country announced the cancellation of the €9.9 billion Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia - which is good news environmentally, yet may not hurt Russia quickly enough as the pipeline was not operating yet.

But now that the price of oil has topped $140 (€129) per barrel for the first time since 2008, and gas imports are set to reduce in the coming years, governments are scrambling to find energy alternatives.

Brussels is stepping up efforts to rapidly diversify its basket of energy providers and is reaching out to other gas exporters such as the US, Norway, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Japan and South Korea.

But is gas the only option?