Just 2% of continent’s gas capacity has planned retirement date despite pledges to decarbonise, study shows
Europe’s “tone-deaf” expansion of fossil gas is accelerating climate breakdown and increasing reliance on hostile regimes, campaigners have warned.
Just four of Europe’s gas-fired power plants have a retirement plan and new projects will increase the continent’s gas generation capacity by 27%, according to analysis from the campaign group Beyond Fossil Fuels.
It argues that the dash for gas contradicts the International Energy Agency’s recommendation that rich countries decarbonise their electricity grids in the next 10 years to stop the planet from heating 1.5C.
Governments must send a clear message to the gas industry that its days are numbered, said Alexandru Mustață, a campaigner at Beyond Fossil Fuels. “This undermines our security, exposes us to volatile power prices and toxic emissions, and heightens the risk of stranded assets.”
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