European Union member states have spent an additional EUR 100 billion on energy imports since the start of the war in Iran, according to European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen. He stressed that the EU needs to replace fossil fuels with renewables.
“We have now surpassed EUR 100 billion that we paid extra for our energy this year, without receiving one extra molecule of gas or oil,” the EU’s Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said in Dublin at a gathering of energy ministers of the European Union.
With the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime corridor handling a fifth of global oil trade in peacetime, prices for consumers in several European countries have jumped by nearly 50% at the pump.
Extra spending demonstrates how bad it is for the EU to be dependent
Brent reached almost USD 110 per barrel yesterday, up from below USD 70 prior to the start of the US and Israeli war against Iran in late February.
Commissioner Dan Jørgensen stressed that extra spending demonstrates how bad it is for the EU to be dependent, and how unsustainable it is to be dependent on energy sources from other places of the world, according to a video posted on his Instagram account.
He noted that the EU used to be dependent on Russia, but that it is moving away from it. But, nonetheless, when prices go up on the global market, it hurts EU citizens and industries, the commissioner added.
We need to replace fossil fuels with green electrons
For him, the conclusion is very clear.
“We need to get out of that dependency. We need to replace fossil fuels – the imported, polluting, expensive molecules, with home-grown energy – green electrons,” he pointed out.
This is also why the EU put forward an electrification action plan earlier this year, and why it is now negotiating a more ambitious grids package.
