Words by Smiley Team
As urgency builds to tackle the climate crisis, oil isn’t looking like such a slick option for investors. To hasten the departure away from fossil fuels, a campaign group called Transport & Environment (T&E) has come up with a practical solution.
Through a combination of electrification and fuel savings, the environmental campaign group says governments could cut Europe’s demand for oil by 35%.
William Todts, the Executive Director of T&E explained: “Almost half of Europe’s demand for Russian oil can be eliminated by 2023, and almost all of it by 2025 by saving fuel and switching to electric vehicles faster, particularly in fleets. This is crucial for Europe’s future security and for the planet.”
Especially following the Russian occupation of Ukraine, countries are looking for an alternative to Russian oil. While the UK has banned Russian oil imports, the European Union aims to phase out Russian oil imports by 2023.
[Read more positive news about initiatives to support greener, cleaner and more affordable energy]
Despite these sanctions in response to the war, Europe remains Russia’s most faithful customer for this highly polluting fossil fuel, sourcing one out of every four barrels of its oil consumed from Russia. Meanwhile, companies are looking to countries abroad to launch new extraction projects.
“The EU’s plan to cut off Russian oil and stop the flow of money to Putin is welcome. But the solution to our oil addiction can’t be to go searching for another dealer in the Middle East. We need to reduce oil consumption,” Todts explained.
The campaign group published a paper which suggests ways for the EU to divest from Russian petroleum. To do this it lays out how countries could reduce oil consumption rather than turning to new sources of oil.
It proposes ways to save energy and make a rapid electrification transition, introducing regulations across transport sectors such as shipping and aviation as well as for car manufacturers. By 2030 the paper says this could cut oil demand by 35% compared to in 2019, which would fully replace Russia’s market share.
VOLUNTEER: If you’re interested in helping to build renewable energy for communities in London, volunteer for renewable energy charity Repowering.
