Energy geopolitics changes but fossil fuels remain

The relationships between states and continents for energy supply are changing but the type of source does not change:we always talk about fossil fuels.

• Russia's invasion of Ukraine revolutionized the energy world.
• Agreements between states for energy supply are changing but instead of renewable sources we continue to look for solutions that have fossil fuels at their centre.
• New extraction and combustion projects are on the horizon.The Italian Eni is also among the proponents.

After the 40 percent gas cut towards Germany, the energy war between Russia and Europe has now come to life.The Kremlin is increasingly tightening the supply of fossil fuels and costs rise:the price of methane on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange he jumped of 43 percent in one week, going from 82.50 euros to 117.74 euros, with peaks of 134 euros per MWh.

Meanwhile Russia has become China's top crude oil supplier, ousting Saudi Arabia from this role.Moscow's oil now represents the 55 percent of that imported from Beijing.India is also taking advantage of Russian oil, which is cheaper than that of the rest of the world.

The president of the United States Joe Biden will fly to visit Saudi Arabia, where he will meet Prince Mohammed bin Salman – and for this he has been criticized – to try to convince the Middle Eastern country to increase oil production.In short, compared to the beginning of theinvasion of Ukraine, the Global energy geopolitics has changed once again.But the protagonists are always them, i fossil fuels.

Italy at the gas pipe?

Even in Italy the Ministry of Ecological Transition is evaluating whether raise the crisis level of the national gas system, taking it from pre-alarm to alarm.If the cuts continue for a long time, it could be put further the storage mechanism is at risk, a decision that pushed Germany to restart its coal-fired power plants.

The Italian government has also already discussed this possibility and it is right on the inventory node which is responsible for the technical emergency and monitoring committee of natural gas, established under the ministry.Meanwhile, Italian gas increasingly comes from Algeria and less and less from Russia (while there is an almost disappearance of national production).The data spread by Mite indicate an increase in 289 percent of the gas imported from the North African nation, in the face of a real collapse in purchases from Moscow, which are reduced by around 48 percent.

Eni will produce emissions until 2050

Speaking of imports, the energy giant Eni has recently joined the North Field East consortium, the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, as the new international partner of QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies.This partnership, hailed by numerous Italian media as an important milestone, represents one “carbon bomb” in terms of emissions:by “climate bomb” we mean a fossil fuel extraction project capable of emit at least 1 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere over its duration.

It is estimated that North Field East can contain 10 percent of the world's reserves of LNG.A "competitive process that began in 2019" and which "has a duration of 27 years", we read on the site of the company.That is, it ends in 2050, the year in which, on the contrary, we should reach net zero emissions (and in the meantime Eni states that these investments represent a significant stage in the company's diversification strategy, "which expands its portfolio of cleaner and more reliable").

We Italians we focus a lot on LNG (actually all of Europe, which he signed an agreement with the USA), a choice that will accompany us for many years to come.Draghi has indeed appointed the extraordinary commissioners for the realization of two regasifiers floating vessels (with a capacity of 5 billion cubic meters each), one in Ravenna and the other in Piombino.

Europe says ahead with fossil fuels

At European level, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, he warned the countries of the union of Don't back down on the reduction of the use of fossil fuels, to cope with the reduction in Russian supplies.Also, one new provision of the commission provides that gas storage facilities must be filled at least 80 percent by 1 November 2022, to protect European citizens from possible supply shocks.

And, at the same time, the European Union is working to strengthen its energy cooperation with other countries.It's in the top places Israel, where Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi recently visited.The European Union he signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel and Egypt:“With this agreement we will work on the stable supply of natural gas to the EU from the Eastern Mediterranean region,” von der Leyen said from Cairo.

But there is little to celebrate.The geopolitics of energy sources once again passes through the supply of fossil fuels.And in the meantime, renewables, which truly remain the only way to break away from the dictatorship of fossil fuels, wait in the background.While emissions continue to grow.