It wasn't that long time ago when we've been bombarded with news about how and why the natural gas is bad, dirty and one of the main causes for the climate change.
Natural gas is a much ‘dirtier’ energy source than we thought
And more natural gas is a disaster:
To tackle climate change, natural gas has got to go.
Natural gas is seen as one of the biggest drivers of the climate change, according to climate scientists:
Cleaner but not clean - Why scientists say natural gas won't avert climate disaster
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-gas-climatebox-explainer-idUSKCN25E1DR
The Netherlands has a clear climate policy:
To combat climate change, the Dutch government wants to reduce the Netherlands’ greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, and a 95% reduction by 2050. These goals are laid down in the Climate Act on May 28, 2019.
But according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, around 92% of the houses in the Netherlands are still using gas as their base for heating. This was in the beginning of 2019, but it's safe to assume that these percentages have not been drastically modified meanwhile. Central city heating (without gas) is around 5.15% and all electric is 0.56%.
One of the most efficient way of heating using electricity is at this point, a heat pump. But these are not cheap; you might end up paying thousands of euros for one of these. They are seen as a heating revolution, but this is far from the truth. They're running on electricity, and most of the electricity is produced by, you guessed it, burning natural gas. There are of course the technical details of installing en-masse this sort of devices, how many houses can actually accommodate those and how good are they actually insulated.
This is how the situation of different energy sources looked like in 2021:
So, natural gas is bad for the climate change and all that. But that was before the war in Ukraine. Now, it seems that everyone is concerned about the natural gas sources, since the situation with Russia makes it a little bit tricky. And Germany is looking actively for alternatives, including new drilling in the Northern Sea.
(Germany also did some terrible choices in the name of fighting climate change, but that's a story for another time)
A Dutch company plans to start drilling for gas in the North Sea, off the coast of the Wadden Sea islands of Schiermonnikoog and Borkum, now that the German regional authority has given its backing to the plan.
According to Chris de Ruyter van Steveninck, director of Dutch firm One-Dyas, the field and those nearby have a potential of 60 billion cubic mebres. The Netherlands uses 40 billion cubic metres of gas a year, Germany 90 billion.
So, if until now the climate change propaganda was alive and kicking, now we can look the other way and ignore some possible consequences.
The mayors of the two nearby islands are both opposed to the development and say they are concerned about the impact on the environment. Research by the Dutch economic affairs ministry into the likely effect concluded there would be minimal damage during both construction and while the gas is being pumped up.
And the main kick is coming in the words of Ruyter van Steveninck, director of Dutch firm One-Dyas:
‘Local gas is cleaner, more reliable and more affordable than imported gas. The German government realises this and that is why they now support the project.’
Local gas is cleaner and more reliable that the Russian one? What does this even mean? But how about pricing? Is it also on the same level or much more expensive (you guess which one)?
Truth to be told, in the long run, the only real alternative to replace reduce the amount of energy produced by gas, is nuclear, but that's also included on the bad guys list. Wind and solar can go along, complementing the "dirty" sources, but they cannot fully replace those. For the governments it's a preferred topic since it has induced traction (don't you dare to debate climate change with anything!) and also a great way to throw more taxes in the mix.
For the rest of us it means only that the energy will be more and more expensive, and yeah, partially green. But when you hardly afford to heat up your home, this aspect has no relevance.
You'll afford nothing and you'll be happy.
