For some time now, the European Union has been looking to green hydrogen as a way to avoid dependence on Russian gas. The alternatives are not many, although in view of current events, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the deadlines must be accelerated. For this reason, the European Parliament is analyzing the presentation of the RePowerEu plan, which proposes the use of green hydrogen and the change of energy suppliers, among other things.
what is the RePowerEu plan?
It is a plan to definitively end Russia’s dependence on oil and gas. The plan also has a deadline, which is before 2030. They intend to achieve the supply of natural gas through non-Russian pipelines.
In addition, to intensify the supply of bioethanol and green hydrogen coming from other sources. To this end, they have several countries on the list capable of replacing the Russian supply. Some of them are the United States, Qatar, Norway, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Japan, Korea, Egypt, Turkey, Israel and Nigeria.
However, there are countries that have immense potential in renewable energy and one should look to Latin America. Two of these countries have a huge potential and they are Chile and Argentina, with which they have started talks.
Latin America has great resources to manufacture renewable energies
However, renewable energies can be manufactured anywhere in the world. Only Latin America has enough resources to supply itself and Europe. They have powerful renewable resources, both in wind energy, solar energy and water energy.
The whole of Europe today needs to get rid of Russian economic dependence. It should be borne in mind that in the event of a conflict of continental magnitude, most countries would run out of gas and fuels. The replacement of gas by renewable energies will not be in the short or medium term. However, in the future, green hydrogen may be the best alternative to replace natural gas.
Since 2020, before the presentation of the RePowerEu plan, the European Commission has been working with Chile. It is for the development of green hydrogen in that country. This country has a huge potential due to its geographical location. However, it is also carrying out a very important decarbonization plan for its economy. The European Commission foresees investments to help it with this project. And also to supply green hydrogen from that country.
However, to fully supply Russian gas, 10 megatons of hydrogen and 5 megatons more of European production would have to be imported. At present, it does not have that production capacity. Africa also has great potential and is closer to Europe. It would save import costs through direct pipelines.
In any case, no possible source is ruled out in terms of renewable energies. Both Argentina and Chile committed to climate neutrality by 2050 and to decarbonize their industries. A commitment is also expected from Africa, which is closer to Europe.
