modernization and upgrading to create the necessary new electrical space. Africa, Latin America and Asia have a serious problem with their electricity grids, where in many cases they are non-existent. That is the problem and it is not going to be solved in a decade or two since the rich countries of the West do not seem willing to shoulder the burden of the “green transition” for the developing economies of the South, while their ever-increasing energy needs will be met with readily available oil and gas.
In the case of Greece, hydrocarbons, despite the government’s total commitment to the green agenda and the serious investments that have been made in RES in recent years, with the result that these will now consistently contribute more than 45% of electricity demand in 2023 (according to data from ADMIE), most of the country’s energy consumption is covered by imported hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas) which together are responsible for 76% of energy (2022 data, according to the 2023 Annual Report of IENE for the Hellenic Energy Sector – here).
As far as natural gas is concerned, this covered 25% of the country’s total energy needs in 2023, with most of it being used in electricity production and industry. While as the gas networks in cities and regions will increase (here), a part of consumption will shift to the residential-commercial sector. In the case of our country, the necessity of natural gas as a key component of the energy balance is non-negotiable as it comes to cover the basic needs of the economy and above all to replace lignite in electricity generation, which it has already achieved.
And the inarticulate cries of some environmentalists (Theodori Georgakopoulou’s article in the Kathimerini newspaper of 3/30 entitled “Who want to drown us in Natural Gas” – here) that the planned investments of companies in city networks and new infrastructure (e.g. FSRUs, underground storage of natural gas in the depleted field of Kavala), undermine the goals of the ESEK and the EU vision for the marginalization of hydrocarbons until 2050, overlook the imperative needs of the country in investments and modernization of its energy infrastructure.
The same logic also applies to the hydrocarbon research south of Crete and elsewhere, which the Kathimerini columnist in question condemns outright, since, as he claims, they will contribute to the rise of greenhouse emissions and thus to the inevitable ecological Armageddon due to the already discounted of global warming (only recent data and analysis by reputable scientists show that rising CO2 does not affect the minimum increase in average global temperature, since recent evidence has shown that warming typically lags that of CO2, according to Koutsoyiannis et al. – see here).
In the case of the ongoing investigations both in Crete and in other locations in Western Greece, the discovery of commercially exploitable gas fields will contribute to the energy security of the country and of Europe. It is not only Greece that is currently conducting research for hydrocarbons, but countries such as Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Croatia, Italy, Romania, Albania, etc. As far as our country is concerned, estimates are that there will be enough gas not only to cover 100% of domestic needs but also for exports, effectively contributing to tackling Greece’s perennial problem with its foreign trade balance. Things that are certainly of no concern to those who are against research and natural gas in general, since the issue of the economic development of the place is anathema to them.
Finally, let us note, something that the late protectors of the already trampled and wildly rushed Greek landscape and environment also choose to keep silent, is that the promotion of natural gas (along with nuclear energy) is a European policy after the revision of of the famous EU Taxonomy in July 2022. So that the use of natural gas, together with that of nuclear energy, is promoted at the European level in the context of the effort to reduce emissions. With natural gas emitting +50% less emissions compared to coal and nuclear power in electricity generation having zero emissions.