Natural gas is key to reaching Europe’s energy and climate targets

Natural gas should play a key role in reaching Europe’s 2050 climate targets in the most cost-efficient manner, according to a report published today by the European Gas Advocacy Forum (EGAF).

24 February 2011

Statoil participates in the EGAF together with a number of other key gas players. The EGAF report addresses how Europe can reach the target of at least 80% reduction in its carbon dioxide emissions in 2050. Bilde

Rune Bjørnson, senior vice president for Natural gas in Statoil.

“Europe is facing a huge challenge as the energy demand is growing while carbon emissions need to be reduced,” says Rune Bjørnson, senior vice president for Natural gas in Statoil.

“The EGAF report presents a roadmap where one of the main measures is replacing coal with natural gas in the power sector in the next decades. This will cater for immediate and major emission cuts, and is a realistic and cost-efficient way of reducing climate emissions in Europe.”

Natural gas is cost competitive, CO2-emission are up to 70% lower than those of coal, it is based on known technology and provides a robust and predictable power supply.

“The report presents a roadmap where replacing coal with natural gas is combined with a significant growth in renewable energy sources and a further development and maturing of emission-reducing technologies. The combination of increased use of natural gas and growth in renewable energy is a robust pathway for Europe in reaching its carbon emissions targets,” underlines Bjørnson.

Statoil press release