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COP and Climate Justice: A Story of Three Nightclubs

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Climate

Food & Water Action Europe’s Philip Wheeler was present in Glasgow in his role as our Network Developer. He has attended COP meetings before this one, and here he reflects on the progress of the movement, as measured in nightclubs he witnessed around the talks.

Nightclub 1
Paris, 2015

A crowd of diplomats are out in high spirits – high on their own success. They’re mostly drunk and chanting:
‘We. Just. Saved The World. We Just Saved The World.’
Footage of this chanting on the night of the deal over the Paris Agreement exists, though they would prefer you didn’t see it.
These people are what you might call the institutional believers, those for whom the international negotiations are the means by which we will make progress towards justice. For them, the backroom deals and geopolitical maneuvers are the paths we must take. Their chanting that night in Paris speaks for itself.

Nightclub 2
Paris, 2015

A bunch of confused activists are sitting in a squat that same night. They are exhausted, and looking for reasons for hope.
There’s no chanting here.
The flipside of the Paris aftermath is not on video, but in this party venue the mood is grim: the realisation is landing that that treaty is not binding – that the destruction of our home would not only continue, but accelerate under cover of this so-called Paris deal.
This crowd of organisers knows that, as the famous saying goes, power concedes nothing without a demand. The fossil fuel industry has our society in a stranglehold. They know on this night that we will need to keep building political power until the point where the institutions cannot resist us. A step-change in climate activism is required. Conversations about those next steps are underway.

Nightclub 3
Glasgow, 2021

Civil society is crammed into one of Glasgow’s finest Friday night establishments, where questionable dj-ing meets questionable dancing.
Rude things are shouted about the authorities by most everyone present – activists and locals.
The final outcome of the Glasgow negotiations hasn’t been decided yet; the final text will be dropped on us the next day. But in this club nobody is waiting for those irrelevant words.
The seeds of resistance, some planted after the disappointment of Paris, others so many generations before then, have started to germinate. We know the odds are still heavily against us. Many are hurting. But the numbers of those standing up for climate justice are growing, and we know more of the world is recognising the massive institutional greenwashing. Empty promises won’t slow us down. We know the destruction will continue until we are strong enough to stop it. But we are getting stronger. Climate justice is on the rise.

Spanish Climate Law: Another Nail in the Coffin for Fracking in Europe

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Fossil Fuels

Spanish Climate Law: Another Nail in the Coffin for Fracking in Europe

By David Sánchez and Frida Kieninger

Fracking is not finding a home in Europe. The latest country to reject this dangerous fossil fuel drilling technique is Spain. The new law on Climate Change and Energy Transition, approved by the Spanish Congress and the Senate in late April, is set to get the final green light from the Congress soon. This legislation includes a ban on fracking and guarantees that no new hydrocarbon extraction projects will be authorized.

The ban on fracking is a clear victory for the Spanish movements, and marks a new landmark victory at the European level. The ban is part of a new Climate Change and Energy Transition law, which has some flaws; it lacks clear ambition and includes proposals aligned with fossil gas industry demands, which is why it has been criticised by Spanish environmental organisations like Amigos de la Tierra or Ecologistas en Acción.

Nonetheless, with this fracking ban Spain joins countries like Scotland, Germany, France and Bulgaria, as well as several other European regions that have banned this technique. Ireland has also imposed a ban on fracking, and is moving ahead with a ban on imported fracked gas.

That move is key. The EU is still the world’s biggest gas importer and it is still building and planning expensive and unnecessary gas infrastructure. While these fracking bans should serve as a model to follow across the Atlantic, the struggle to end the fossil fuels era continues in Europe.

Spain needs to ban imports of fracked gas

Within the EU, Spain is the country with the highest number of import terminals to import liquefied fossil gas (LNG), and it also uses them to import more fracked gas: In 2020, over a quarter of all US LNG that entered Europe, was supplied to Spain.

This needs to stop. With allies all across Europe and beyond, Food & Water Action Europe demanded a ban on fracked gas imports due to high methane emissions.

Stopping fossil gas means banning fracking, but also stopping it from entering through the back door. While the reputation of gas, particularly fracked gas, has suffered greatly thanks to the work of climate organizations and grassroots groups all over Europe, the gas industry is pushing a new ‘hydrogen hype’ to greenwash this fossil fuel and keep Europe hooked on fossil gas and costly pipelines or terminals.

The fracking ban in Spain is a reason to celebrate, but we’ve still got a lot to fight to keep fossil fuels in the ground!

EU LNG Terminals in Figures: Import Capacities Still Underutilized

Categories

Fossil Fuels

Just like in past years, Food & Water Action Europe has taken a closer look at the utilization rates of terminals to import liquefied fossil gas (LNG) in the EU and the UK.

With 2019 being a veritable boom year for LNG imports, the average utilization rate is up, but still nowhere near full capacity. While the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors have made it more difficult to estimate future trends, it is clear that the EU still has plans to expand import capacities. This would be a terrible decision, since there is clearly no justification to waste even more money on unneeded fossil fuel infrastructure.

Since 2012, EU & UK have imported approximately 555 billion cubic meters of dirty LNG* via 22 large-scale LNG terminals. On average, these facilities were used at less than one third (29%) of their full capacity. Yet, due to several geopolitical and market reasons, the EU and UK substantially increased their LNG imports in 2019 and 2020, reaching an average utilisation rate of 46%.

Read more details in our blog Europe’s Liquid Fossil Gas Dream: Costly, Inefficient and Harmful.

The amount of unused capacity varies from country to country. Looking at the past few years, both Portugal and Italy, followed by Poland, show the least idle capacity, while the UK, Greece, Spain and Belgium seem to be champions of almost-empty LNG terminals (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Figure 2 shows that almost all EU & UK terminals imported significantly more LNG in the past 2 years than they had imported on average since 2012. Close to 40% (37,5%) of the total amount of LNG imported since 2012 was delivered in these two years (2019 and 2020). Nevertheless, even during the boom years, the average utilization of a majority of the terminals remained at less than 50%. Also, within countries with several import terminals (e.g. Spain, France, UK, Italy), utilization rates of respective LNG terminals can vary greatly.

Figure 2

While 10 countries in the EU27+UK import LNG, just three of them (Spain (25%), France (21%) and the UK (18%)) account for nearly two thirds (64%) of all LNG entering the bloc, followed by Italy (14%), Portugal and Poland (both 5%) and Belgium and the Netherlands (both 4%).

Germany, the EU’s #1 fossil gas consumer, however, has no LNG terminals and is thus not included in the calculation.

Figure 3

Since 2017, more and more of this LNG is actually coming from the United States, and a majority of the latter is fracked. In its gas market report, the EU Commission calculated the cumulative monthly LNG imports from the US that entered the EU – see Figure 4. Spain is the sad number one, with volumes of cumulative dirty US LNG imports higher than any other EU member state, followed by France, Italy and the Netherlands.

Also the UK became one of the most important takers of dirty US LNG in the past years.

Figure 4 – Cumulative monthly LNG imports from the US in the EU

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* Corresponding to the ~5423317 GWh of aggregated gas flow sent out of the LNG facilities. When we talk about LNG imports in this article, we do not include LNG storage. All calculations are based on figures from alsi.gie.eu (last update: 07/12/2020).

 

Europe’s Liquid Fossil Gas Dream: Costly, Inefficient and Harmful

The EU, the world’s biggest fossil gas importer, is bringing in a large amount of the dirty fuel in its liquid form – better known as LNG, or liquefied natural gas.LNG is fossil gas that has been cooled down to -162°C, so that it can be shipped across the world to then be turned back into its gaseous form. LNG is harmful for our climate and environment. Methane leaks all along the gas supply chain, and the process of cooling and shipping the fuel require a lot of energy and is also very polluting.

The EU and UK count 23 operating large-scale LNG terminals* which have been largely underused: between January 2012 and December 2020, EU and UK LNG terminals have been operating at only 29% of their full capacity**. But there are plans to expand LNG import and storage capacity, and in the last two years, the EU and UK have considerably increased their LNG imports.

A significant drop of LNG prices, caused by shrinking Asian demand and the alignment of European prices with East-Asian ones, made the EU a competitive destination for the polluting liquefied fuel. The average LNG terminals utilisation rates rose to 47% in 2019 and reached 51% during the first half of 2020, before falling again to 40%, partly due to COVID-19 lockdown measures.

The EU is also a champion in LNG re-exporting, meaning it imports LNG from the US or elsewhere and then re-exports it to Asia, which leads to even more inefficiencies with energy wasted in transport. In 2019, France was re-exporting more LNG than any other country, and the Netherlands and Belgium came in 3rd and 4th position respectively.

LNG is Costly

In 2019, the cost of LNG imports in the EU amounted to €16,2 billion. Instead of importing climate-hostile energy via polluting ships from the other side of the word, this money could have been invested in renovation programmes or local renewable energy infrastructure.

LNG is Inefficient

Given the EU’s enthusiasm for LNG, it is appropriate to ask how increasing these imports would be compatible with the EU’s commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. Indeed, to respect that commitment, the European Commission estimates that the EU will have to reduce gas imports by 13-19% by 2030 compared to 2015. Yet the same Commission supports the build-out of gas infrastructure; Its priority project list (the PCI list) still contains 5 LNG import projects. Given that the existing LNG terminals are largely underused, and the need to reduce our LNG imports in the next 10 years, going forward on any of these projects would be highly irresponsible.

One of the declared aims of the EU Commission is to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian gas. But while LNG terminals are hailed as enablers of this independence, the share of Russian LNG imported to Europe has actually grown more than LNG from most other destinations in the last two years;  Russia is among the top 3 countries exporting LNG to Europe.

LNG is Harmful

In addition to the pollution created by LNG production and transport, the EU is increasingly supporting fracked gas production through growing LNG imports from the US. Particularly since mid-2018, the US is expanding its LNG exports linked to fracking, a brutal, water-intensive gas extraction method that creates earthquakes, leads to considerable methane emissions and the release of chemicals into the air and water, putting the environment and affected communities at risk. Fracking has outraged people across the continent, and some European countries, like France, have banned fracking extractions and cancelled fracked gas imports. More countries and a full EU-wide ban on fracking and the import of fracked LNG need to follow.

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* With the 23rd terminal, Krk LNG, only starting to operate on 1 January 2021, numbers apply to 22 terminals only.

**Percentage of the average aggregated gas flow out of the LNG facility compared to the total send-out capacity. Calculations are based on figures from alsi.gie.eu (last update: 07/12/2020).

The Story of Europe’s Failed Dirty Gas Import Terminals

by Frida Kieninger & Gaëtane Charlier

watch the video here.
Did you ever wonder where the gas we burn for heating and cooking, and which fuels our industries, actually comes from? Since Europe does not produce very much gas, a lot of it is imported via mega pipelines, mainly from Russia, Algeria or Norway. But in the past few years, more and more gas has been imported in liquid form through liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals on Europe’s shores.

These big import facilities receive LNG ships from all over the world and regasify the liquid gas which has been cooled down to minus 162 degrees. The amount of liquid gas from Russia and fracked and liquefied gas from the United States imported by European countries has been growing significantly in recent years, and other countries – including Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago and Qatar – are also exporting the liquefied fuel to Europe.

Doesn’t this sound like a complicated and inefficient way to bring more dirty fossil fuels into the EU market? That’s what a lot of activists across Europe think too, and in the past few years, more and more groups have worked together to oppose these mega terminals. And we’re winning! 

Follow us on a journey across Europe to learn more about failed LNG terminals.

Gothenburg LNG in Sweden: People say NO to a fossil gas trap

A substantial victory of people power was achieved in Sweden at the end of 2019, when the Gothenburg LNG terminal in the south of the country was declined access to the gas grid. Thanks to email campaigns, demonstrations and 450 activists blocking the relevant part of the industrial port of Gothenburg, the grassroots groups managed to bring the government’s attention to the climate-wrecking consequences of the terminal. After significant protests of local grassroots groups like Fossilgasfällan and Folk mot Fossilgas, the Swedish government finally rejected the project promoter Swedegas’s permit request on climate grounds.

German LNG terminals: Big geopolitical interest – and a lack of market interest

Germany, the biggest EU gas consumer, is building the highly contested NordStream II mega pipeline to import even more fossil gas from Russia. In order to get access to gas from other sources (or to please the US, as the Trump administration has threatened Germany with sanctions over NordStream II), Germany supports a number of planned LNG terminals in the north of the country. But at least two of these projects are in trouble. Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal is a project by German gas company Uniper that has an offtake commitment from US LNG producers. But things are not running too smoothly: After a disappointing bidding round with too little interest from market players, the project promoter is now re-evaluating the plans for the terminal. The planned Brunsbüttel LNG terminal also faces serious delays.  

El Musel LNG terminal in Spain: Mega-Infrastructure, Mothballed & Mucho Expensive

Spain is the EU’s sad champion in terms of mega import terminals, with seven active fossil gas terminal projects, more than any other EU country. In the past months, Spain also was the EU’s number 1 importer of fracked US gas. Spain has a dense, “luxurious” gas system that Spaniards pay for through their gas bills. This arrangement is particularly annoying, since it means that people have to pay for infrastructure that is not even in use! That is the case with the El Musel LNG terminal in Gijón, which cost €400 million but was mothballed right after it was constructed “until demand justifies it”. While it is not in use, its maintenance costs alone have swallowed €23 million every year  since 2012! 

France: No gas contracts with dirty fracking companies

In France, the energy supplier Engie renounced signing a 20-year mega contract worth €5,9 billion with the American group NextDecade, which was intended to import fracked gas from the Texan Rio Grande LNG Terminal to two French LNG terminals, Fos Tonkin and Montoir de Bretagne. This decision was made thanks to pressure from NGOs like Les Amis de la Terre France. The French government, which is the main shareholder of the company, argued that its decision is based on its own environmental policies. France, which has a ban on fracking on all its territories since 2017, has just committed itself to no longer providing public export credit guarantees for shale gas and oil projects.

Ireland: Strong Headwinds for Fracking Gas Imports

Even though it has been stalled for over a decade, it wasn’t until 2020 that the planned Shannon LNG import terminal received a major blow which might doom the project for good. A massive public campaign by anti-fracking and anti-gas activists in Ireland and the US – including NotHereNotAnywhere, Friends of the Earth Ireland, Safety B4 LNG – intensified in the past months. Groups highlighted the links between the terminal, owned by the US company New Fortress Energy, with fracking for gas in the United States, and pushed decision makers to stop the plans for all LNG import terminals. 

In July 2020, the Irish program of government agreed, stating “(…) we do not believe that it makes sense to develop LNG gas import terminals importing fracked gas. (…) We do not support the importation of fracked gas and shall develop a policy statement to establish that approach.” How Ireland will follow through with these commitments will be crucial, but the year brought more good news: In November, a High Court decision on the Shannon LNG terminal found that the permitting procedure for the project would need to start basically from scratch again, if the plans were to be pursued. 

Considering the enormous headwinds facing fracked gas imports, it will be extremely difficult for a second planned terminal, Cork LNG, to go ahead.

The hydrogen hype: Gas industry fairy tale or climate horror story?

Categories

Food

The European Commission and its quest to let the gas industry write the book on hydrogen in Europe

Read the new Food & Water Action Europe, Corporate Europe Observatory and Re:Common Hydrogen Hype report here.

Industry’s hydrogen hype machine is in full swing. An analysis of over 200 documents obtained through freedom of information rules reveals an intense and concerted lobbying campaign by the gas industry in the EU. The first goal was convincing the EU to embrace hydrogen as the ‘clean’ fuel of the future. Doing so has secured political, financial, and regulatory support for a hydrogen-based economy. The second task was securing support for hydrogen derived from fossil fuels as well as hydrogen made from renewable electricity. Successful lobbying means the gas industry can look forward to a lucrative future, but this spells grave danger for the climate as well as the communities and ecosystems impacted by fossil fuel extractivism.

  • The hydrogen lobby, whose main players are fossil gas companies, declared a combined annual expenditure of €58.6 million trying to influence Brussels policy making, although this is suspected to be a gross underestimate.
  • The Commission’s European Hydrogen Strategy, published in July 2020, is worryingly similar to lobby group Hydrogen Europe’s demands, including goals and investments needed for hydrogen both inside and outside the EU, which industry costs at €430 billion by 2030.
  • The European Commission has put the gas industry in the driving seat of many new hydrogen-focused bodies, such as the ‘Clean Hydrogen Alliance’, tasked with drawing up a list of hydrogen projects eligible for public funds. This is a glaring conflict of interest.
  • Hydrogen projects will now enjoy regulatory and financial support from the EU, outlined in the European Hydrogen Strategy and the European Commission’s Industrial Strategy, among others, while also being pushed in the upcoming reviews of the Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation and the Renewable Energy Directive. Hydrogen-related projects will also enjoy access to new and existing EU funding streams such as the Sustainable Investment Plan, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Connecting Europe Facility, and through revised state aid rules as ‘Important Projects of Common European Interest’.
  • Failed ‘carbon capture and storage/usage’ (CCS/U) technology is being resurrected, and is receiving political, financial, and regulatory support so the EU can justify including fossil fuel-based hydrogen in its 2050 climate plans.
  • The EU’s oversized and under-used fossil gas network has been rebranded by industry as Europe’s future ‘Hydrogen Backbone’, blending small amounts of hydrogen into existing gas pipelines in the short-term, and repurposing them for hydrogen in the longer-term. The European Commission appears to support industry plans, which would give a green light to companies building and operating fossil gas infrastructure to carry on as before.

Read the full list of key findings and the full report here.