Brussels, 20 June 2019
The European Commission has drawn attention to the importance of the European industrial sector – and its reliance on gas.
Speaking on Eurogas’ panel at the European Sustainable Energy Week, Tudor Constantinescu, Principal Advisor to the Director General for Energy at the European Commission, highlighted that the energy intensive industry accounts for 20% of Europe’s GDP, 25% of its employment, and 25% of its energy consumption. Europe’s industry consumes around 32% of Europe’s gas demand – a full 10% more than the average OECD country.
He said “We need innovative solutions to decarbonise our industry. Energy efficiency alone will not be enough. We need system efficiency and renewables across various chains. Hydrogen is one of our obvious enabling tools.”
Stressing the volume of power that industry needs, Axel Eggert from Eurofer, the European Steel Association, demonstrated that moving away from gas would require “more electricity production for current levels of European industry than the whole of Europe consumes today.”
James Watson, Secretary General of Eurogas, noted that “All the technology is available to deliver decarbonisation, the challenge is to do it without impacting the competitiveness of EU industry. Regulatory and policy solutions must be developed to support EU industries through the energy transition.”
Eurogas, the European Commission and the panel of industry specialists were in full alignment that industrial competitiveness and energy policy cannot be independent of each other. “The pathway to decarbonisation cannot happen in isolation” explained Constantinuescu.
Note to Editors: Eurogas is an association representing 45 companies and associations engaged in the wholesale, retail and distribution of gas in Europe. Eurogas provides data and information relevant to EU decision makers and opinion formers in making the right policy choices.
Press contact: Sarah Kempe, Sarah.Kempe@eurogas.org, tel. +32 2 894 48 09
Eurogas • Av. de Cortenbergh 172 • 1000 Brussels • Belgium • www.eurogas.org
