Dutch gas production is expected to fall to about 10 bcm in 2025, little over 10 per cent of the 2013 production level. Within the EU, Dutch gas has so far mostly been replaced by Russian gas. However, when compared to Groningen gas, Russian gas has a carbon footprint that is greater by about 30 per cent. For the Netherlands, replacing Dutch gas with Russian gas negates, by far, all the progress that is being made by increasing the share of renewables in the electricity mix. This has hardly played a role in decision making on gas supplies. It should. Continue reading the news article on the Emerging Europe website.
-
-
Nord Stream 2 labor camp. The prisoners’ work was used in the construction of the gas pipeline
During the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the Russian authorities illegally used the forced labor of prisoners – informed Russian human rights defenders at a conference in Strasbourg. “Russian authorities and state-owned companies use the forced labor of prisoners, in accordance with the practices used in the GULAGs” – announced at the conference “Putin’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and its real price for Europe” organized on October 22 in Strasbourg, the founder of the organization dealing with human rights protection “GULAG – NO “Vladimir Osieczkin. Continue reading the article on the Polish Energetyka24 website.
-
Wij Russen betalen de prijs voor jullie schone gas
Een van Ruslands bekendste milieuactivisten, Jevgenja Tsjirikova, doet een beroep op Europa om Russisch gas van het omstreden project Nord Stream 2 af te wijzen. Weinig mensen in het Westen denken na over de ethische kanten als ze fossiele brandstoffen uit Rusland kopen. Nord Stream 2, een gaspijpleiding van Rusland naar Duitsland, laat zien wie de echte prijs voor goedkoop Russisch gas moet betalen. Laten we beginnen met de plaats waar het gas wordt gewonnen: het schiereiland Jamal. Oorspronkelijk behoorde Jamal niet tot Rusland. Het werd bewoond door inheemse volkeren: de Nenets, Selkoepen, Chanty en vele andere, die rendieren hielden en een nomadisch leven leidden. Gazprom pakt het land af…
-
Pressure builds over environmental impact of Nord Stream 2
Environmental activists in Russia have claimed that the company building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline have violated Russian laws on environmental protection by harming natural reserves inside the country, the Russian press has reported. According to the Russian office of international climate watchdog Greenpeace, the destruction of certain endangered species in the Kurgalsky nature reserve in Russia’s northwest are “massive and continuing.” The organisation’s claims are based on the on-site scientific examinations of Russia’s Komarov Botanical Institute, which said that a significant number of unique plants, which were promised to be transplanted by the gas pipeline’s project company, have been destroyed. Continue reading the news article on the Emerging Europe…
-
Nord Stream 2: Großprojekt der Privatwirtschaft oder Instrument russischer Geopolitik?
Bei Nord Stream 2 fallen wirtschaftliche und geopolitische Interessen Russlands untrennbar voneinander zusammen. Der Bau der Pipeline muss als Versuch Moskaus gewertet werden, sich in der aktuell angespannten politischen Lage vor allem gegenüber der Ukraine aber auch der EU alle Handlungsoptionen offen zu halten, um diese zukünftig zur Durchsetzung eigener strategischer Ziele nutzen zu können. ‚Deutschland ist ein Gefangener Russlands‘. Mit dieser provokanten Aussage erregte US Präsident Donald Trump am Rande des NATO-Gipfels im Jahr 2018 in Brüssel große mediale Aufmerksamkeit. Und US-Vizepräsident Mike Pence fand auf der Münchener Sicherheitskonferenz in diesem Jahr noch deutlichere Worte: „Wir können die Verteidigung des Westens nicht garantieren, wenn unsere Bündnispartner sich vom Osten abhängig…
-
Designierte EU-Kommissionsvize Vestager lehnt Nord-Stream-2-Pipeline ab
Hamburg (AFP) Die designierte Vizepräsidentin der angehenden EU-Kommission, Margrethe Vestager, sieht keine Notwendigkeit für das deutsch-russische Pipeline-Projekt Nord Stream 2. Der Bau einer zweiten Gasleitung durch die Ostsee “ergibt keinen Sinn”, sagte die Dänin der Wochenzeitung “Die Zeit” laut Vorabmeldung vom Mittwoch. Nord Stream 2 sei “kein europäisches Projekt”. The article was published on the German Zeit Online news website.
-
EU’s top court curtails Gazprom access to Nord Stream pipeline link
WARSAW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s top court on Tuesday overruled an EU decision allowing Russia’s Gazprom to ship more gas via the Opal gas pipeline, which links its Nord Stream pipeline to Germany. The ruling is politically charged as Poland and other eastern European nations fight Gazprom’s plans to double the capacity of Nord Stream and bypass legacy gas routes via Poland and Ukraine. Germany, the main beneficiary of the expanded pipeline known as Nord Stream 2, redoubled its defense of the project on Tuesday, while Poland said it threatened gas supplies to central and eastern Europe. Continue reading the article published on the Reuters news website.
-
Brussels unlikely to appeal EU court decision hampering Nord Stream pipelines
The European Commission is unlikely to appeal a decision of the EU General Court on Tuesday (10 September) to restrict the transit of Russian gas via the Opal pipeline, running on German territory. This decision appears to hampers the Gazprom-backed Nord Stream 2 offshore pipeline project, which is nearing completion, as well as the first leg of the project which is operational since 2011. Continue reading the article published on the Euroactiv news website.
-
Nord-Stream-Pipeline – Für die deutsche Regierung ist es eine grosse Ohrfeige
Die Pipelines Nord Stream 1 und 2 transportieren Erdgas von Russland nach Deutschland. Polen und die baltischen Staaten fürchten um ihre Energiesicherheit, die EU mache sich zu stark abhängig von Russland. Gazprom durfte bis 2016 zur Sicherung des Wettbewerbs zunächst nur die Hälte der Leitungskapazitäten der Erdgasleitung Opal nutzen, eine Verlängerung von Nord Stream nach Tschechien und Deutschland. Als die EU-Kommission dem russischen Energiekonzern Gazprom die Erlaubnis erteilte, diese Erdgasleitung doch stärker zu nutzen – und zwar zu 80 Prozent statt zu 50 Prozent – da ging Polen vor Gericht. Nun die Überraschung: EU-Richter haben eine Klage von Polen gutgeheissen. Laut Frank Umbach könnte der jetzige Entscheid Signalwirkung haben. Continue…
-
Das gehört nicht zu den Glanzpunkten deutscher Politik
Die deutsch-russische Erdgasleitung Nord Stream 2 führte zu diplomatischen Verstimmungen zwischen Deutschland und mehreren Partnerstaaten. Bundestagspräsident Schäuble spricht nun von zerstörtem Vertrauen. Die deutsch-russische Erdgastrasse Nord Stream 2 ist äußerst umstritten und hat unter anderem bei Deutschlands östlichen Nachbarstaaten Empörung ausgelöst. Nun hat sich Bundestagspräsident Wolfgang Schäuble dazu geäußert – und Verständnis gezeigt für die Position der Kritiker. Continue reading the article published on der Spiegel news website.
-
Nord Stream 2: Energy Security For Europe Or Prelude To Russian Aggression In The Baltic?
Nord Stream 2 (NS2) has been subject to a vigorous debate and much disagreement on whether it provides an opportunity for diversification of gas supply to the European union or facilitates Russian dominance. But some go even further, suggesting that NS2 could become excuse for Russian expanded military presence or even military aggression in the Baltic Sea. The Project in a Nutshell The Nord Stream 2 (NS2) project consists of two pipelines running across the bottom of the Baltic Sea carrying Russian natural gas to Germany. Once completed the two pipelines would offer 55 billion cubic meters (bcm) in annual capacity. As such, NS2 is an attempt at duplicating the success of Nord…
-
Senator Cruz Says U.S. Has Ability To Halt Nord Stream 2
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has said that the United States still has the ability to halt construction of a planned pipeline to send Russian natural gas to Germany, even as the project nears completion. Russia has said it expects to complete the 1,220-kilometer-long Nord Stream 2 project running under the Baltic Sea by the end of the year. Continue reading the article on the Radio Free Europe news website.
-
Breiter Konsens gegen Nord Stream 2
Der demokratische US-Senator Chris Murphy erklärt, warum sein Land Sanktionen gegen Nord Stream 2 plant – und warum ihn die Debatte in Berlin überrascht. In den USA gibt es nicht mehr viele politische Themen, bei denen sich Republikaner und Demokraten einig sind. Doch kurz vor der Sommerpause billigte der Auswärtige Ausschuss des US-Senats bei nur zwei Gegenstimmen einen Gesetzentwurf, der „Europas Energiesicherheit schützen“ soll. Dieser sieht Sanktionen gegen Firmen vor, die am Bau der Pipeline Nord Stream 2 beteiligt sind. In der Ablehnung des Projekts gebe es in den USA einen „breiten überparteilichen Konsens“, sagte der demokratische Senator von Connecticut, Chris Murphy, am Dienstag in Berlin. „Viele Republikaner und Demokranten wünschen sich,…
-
U.S. Efforts To Derail Russian Pipelines To Europe Have Failed Since The 1960s. Will Nord Stream 2 Be Any Different?
U.S. President Donald Trump will fly to Europe later this month to pursue a goal his predecessors going back to John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan failed to achieve — derailing a Kremlin-backed energy-export pipeline. The Trump administration and the U.S. Congress are fighting to block the 9.5 billion-euro ($10.6 billion) Nord Stream 2 project amid fears it will make NATO allies and other European countries more reliant on Russian energy and damage Ukraine by depriving it of transit fees. Continue reading the article on the Radio Free Europe news website.
-
To Deal with Bad Ideas, Develop Better Solutions
The Russo-German Nord Stream gas pipeline projects—Nord Stream I, completed in 2011, and Nord Stream II scheduled to be completed around the end of 2019—are bad projects because they increase European dependence on Russian gas in general, and especially because they give the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin the option of delivering gas to Germany while bypassing other European countries. Putin’s Russia has a track record of using gas exports as political pressure, for example, against Ukraine in the years leading up to Putin’s attack on that country in 2014 and has threatened to do the same to Central European countries, including those in the European Union. Given this, and their long…
-
Nord Stream 2: high stakes for underwater pipeline lawsuit
That the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project, which is backed by both the Russian and German governments, is now suing the European Union over what it describes as “discriminatory” rules speaks to the serious issues underlying the project and the risks it poses to European energy independence and security. To its proponents in both Moscow and Berlin, the Nord Stream 2 project is a straightforward way to meet the pressing energy needs of Europe’s largest economy. To Nord Stream 2’s many opponents across the rest of Europe, however, the political and economic leverage Vladimir Putin will gain over the European Union far exceeds the proceeds he can expect from shipping gas via the…
-
The Nord Stream 2 Pipeline And The Dangers Of Moving Too Rashly Toward Renewable Energy
Few Americans likely noticed last week that Denmark refused to grant a permit for finishing construction of the Russian natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, but its international significance is enormous. Denmark’s refusal is the latest chapter in a story of how good intentions in fighting climate change go bad. It is a cautionary tale of how a country – in this case, Germany – while seeking to make itself and its energy use cleaner, more efficient and more self-sufficient, can produce the opposite of all three. As climate change becomes more of an issue in America heading into the 2020 election season, Nord Stream 2 provides a case study of the…
-
US-Sanktionsdrohungen gefährden Nord Stream 2
Berlin, Washington Donald Trump hat gerade eine Europareise angekündigt. Vom 31. August bis zum 3. September wird der US-Präsident Dänemark und Polen besuchen – und um Deutschland einen Bogen machen. Die besondere Botschaft, die hinter diesem Reiseprogramm steckt, ist nicht schwer zu entschlüsseln: Die US-Regierung will ein Zeichen gegen die Ostseepipeline Nord Stream 2 setzen – Dänemark und Polen gehören in Europa zu den entschiedensten Gegnern der Projekts. Continue reading the article published on the Handelsblatt new website.
-
Senate panel backs Nord Stream 2 pipeline sanctions bill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Senate committee passed a bill on Wednesday to slap sanctions on companies and individuals involved in building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that the Trump administration says would strengthen Moscow’s economic grip on Europe. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the “Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act,” by a vote of 20 to 2. The bill, which reflects some lawmakers’ concerns over Russian influence in Europe, would still need to pass the full Senate and House of Representatives and be signed by President Donald Trump into law. Continue reading the article published on the Reuters news website.
-
Enact US sanctions against Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline
Contrary to some claims, a bipartisan bill proposing targeted sanctions for those involved in the construction of a Russian gas pipeline will not hit major EU energy companies. Additionally, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is not an easily deployable alternative to sanctions. All arguments deployed against Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-N.H.) sanctions bill overlook the scale of European support for action against Nord Stream 2. It is true that the German government, and certainly the Social Democratic Party, is opposed to sanctions. But they do not speak for all 28 member states of the European Union. The European Parliament already voted in December 433 to 105 in favor of canceling Nord…
