Gas Is So Scarce in Europe That Coal Is Making a Comeback
By Vanessa Dezem
, Jesper Starn
, and Isis Almeida
June 15, 2021, 2:00 AM EDT
Europe needs coal to meet power demand back at pre-Covid level
Gas inventories in Europe are 25% below the five-year average
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Europe is so short of natural gas that the continent -- usually seen as the poster child for the global fight against emissions -- is turning to coal to meet electricity demand that is now back to pre-pandemic levels.
Coal usage in the continent jumped 10% to 15% this year after a colder- and longer-than-usual winter left gas storage sites depleted, said Andy Sommer, team leader of fundamental analysis and modeling at Swiss trader Axpo Solutions AG. As economies reopen and people go back to the office, countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Poland turned to coal to keep the lights on.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-15/gas-is-so-scarce-in-europe-that-coal-is-making-a-comeback?cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-energy&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=energy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic
