Just as distances in the infinite universe are measured in light years rather than kilometers, quantities of gas in the infinite need for energy are measured in bcm’s (billions of cubic meters).
And its main exporter is precisely a country with which the West is at war. And the West could hit Putin’s Russia hardest by declaring a full boycott of Russian gas. The United States and the United Kingdom want this, but they import little or no Russian gas.
The EU gets 40% of its gas from Russia. If that is stopped tomorrow, the large consumers of gas, such as the fertilizer and aluminum industry, will have to be shut down. Citizens will have to lower their thermostat. And if this makes one citizen shiver in the house, even twenty talk shows a day are not enough to expose this abuse.
The Netherlands now obtains 20 percent of its gas from Russia. For France this is already a quarter, for Italy 40 percent and for Germany and Greece almost 50 percent. For Finland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria this rises to 100 percent. Without Russian gas, a country like Bulgaria would return to the Stone Age where deer and hares had to be roasted on wood fires. Or the Netherlands should open the Groningen fields to the Bulgarians.
In 2021, the EU purchased 150 bcm of gas from Russia by pipeline, and another 15 bcm of LNG (liquefied natural gas). The countries now want to reduce that dependence, but that is easier said than done. After Russia, Iran and Qatar have the largest gas reserves in the world. But those are by no means exemplary democracies. Trade sanctions against Iran have been in place since 2006, although they have been relaxed somewhat. And besides Freek de Jonge, many Dutch people think that the World Cup in Qatar should be boycotted, because thousands of people died during the construction of the stadiums.
Just like oil exporting countries have OPEC, the gas exporting countries have their own GECF (Gas Exporting Countries Forum) club of 11 countries: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago , and Venezuela. There are few countries that attach great importance to human rights.
Germany should get gas from Norway, the Netherlands and Great Britain, Italy from Azerbaijan. But really, most of the gas in the liquid state should come from the US and after all, Qatar. At the most, they would be able to export 60 bcm of extra gas to Europe. Then there is still 100 bcm too short.
Renewable sources could yield 20 bcm, but then solar and wind farms would have to be put out of the ground like crazy. If all boilers in Europe were replaced by heat pumps, that would yield another 35 bcm, but that would take at least twenty years. And finally, 10 bcm could be saved by turning the thermostat down one degree.
A Europe without Russian gas is still light years away.