Europe Aims to Quit Russian Natural Gas in Five Years

May 30, 2022 at 18:32 PM EDT

Europe, on the other hand, aims to deploy a vast amount of wind turbines and solar panels to quit purchasing Russian natural gas within five years. There is a lot of red tape, environmental organizations, and resistance. Wind turbines in Germany, the world’s largest importer of Russian natural gas, are regularly opposed by nature preservation organizations, which may take up to five years to be permitted.

90% of wind energy plans in Italy, the second-largest user of Russian natural gas, are rejected by the government. Bureaucratic delays have stymied utility-scale solar farm construction in Europe. In Poland, France, and Hungary, wind-energy development has been stifled by public resistance and legislation.

European Union efforts to swiftly phase out fossil fuels are thwarted despite the invasion of Ukraine. To meet its 2030 goals, the European Union plans to produce 45 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by that time. The EU aims to double the electricity generated by wind and solar power by 2030.

EU authorities are urging national governments to speed up the approval of renewable-energy projects by reducing the bureaucracy involved in the process. National leaders are also prioritizing renewable energy initiatives.

According to authorities, a coalition of interests has attempted to stifle the growth of renewable energy as turbines, and solar panels have expanded throughout Europe. According to local authorities, wind turbines and solar farms can potentially destroy a variety of European landscapes, including local châteaux, churches, and farms.

As environmentalists have pointed out, prior generations of projects failed to consider the effect on birds and bats, leading to a conflict between current initiatives and nature. Yet, despite these restrictions, NABU filed suit to halt the project. However, the corporation has agreed to commence construction after a deal with NABU. If vulnerable birds are recognized, the turbines may be turned off automatically.

However, even if the overall red kite population has stayed steady, according to NABU adviser Katharina Stucke, long-term data collected at German wind farms suggests a decline in local populations. Modern wind turbines have taller towers and longer blades that pose a greater risk to birds, she said.

Projects to renovate parks must be reviewed since current wind turbines are taller and have longer blades than past ones. Permitting has been hampered due to new laws requiring a study of the terrain. Several countries, including France, Poland, and Hungary, have enacted new legislation that has made it harder to establish new wind farms.

Hundreds of renewable-energy projects in Italy have been blocked by bureaucratic red tape during the last several years. It takes an average of seven years for renewable energy proposals to be authorized, according to a report commissioned by the industry organization Elettricità Futura. Irex, an energy-focused research institution, presented 70 percent of the wind and solar projects it received last year without getting approval.

When it comes to renewable energy in Italy, more than 60 percent of the country’s projects are still awaiting clearance from municipal and regional administrations, who have jurisdiction over projects that affect the landscape. Even if a company is given the go-ahead, bureaucratic delays might thwart its goals.

Rejected project applications usually wind up in court, where the companies generally win, and the government routinely rejects fresh project proposals. The corporation must reapply for clearance if it updates the technical plans after many years, even if technology improvements have changed the initial goals.

If a company wants to replace an old wind farm’s turbines with newer, more powerful ones, it must undergo a lengthy approval procedure. The development of offshore wind farms has also run into several roadblocks. Offshore wind turbines have just begun generating power in Puglia, Italy.

Despite the government’s appreciation for the project, it took fourteen years to get the green light from regulators to begin construction. Only one out of every ten wind projects submitted for permission is developed, and the majority of those that are shrunk to receive clearance, according to Simone Togni, the head of ANEV, an organization of wind-energy businesses.

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Europe Aims to Quit Russian Natural Gas in Five Years

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