Natural Gas To Remain Important Transition Fuel In EU Until 2030 - EU Commissioner

Natural gas will remain an essential transition fuel in the European Union until 2030, but it must be urgently replaced with other renewable energy sources, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said in an interview with RIA Novosti

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2021) Natural gas will remain an essential transition fuel in the European Union until 2030, but it must be urgently replaced with other renewable energy sources, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"We estimate that natural gas will continue to play an important role in the energy mix until 2030 as a transition fuel. However, on the way to climate-neutrality by 2050, the gas system needs to progressively decarbonise and fossil gas should be increasingly replaced by renewable and low-carbon gases," Simson said.

The EU official added that the share of decarbonized gases by 2050 will be comparable to the share of natural gas today.

The European bloc is striving to become climate-neutral by 2050 under its Green Deal, which aims to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels in favor of renewables, such as wind, solar and hydropower.

Recently, the EU leaders also agreed to revise emissions reduction targets, committing to a 55 percent drop by 2030, compared to the previous goal of a 40 percent reduction compared to 1990 levels.