we may have She did her homework And this winter Let’s not have problems. Europe is aware of the potential shortage of gas and has completed its reserves. But we live in a trapezoidal situation. Instead of reducing energy consumption, we are Acting as if nothing has changed. Gas has gone from being a last minute solution to leading electricity generation this year.
Is it necessary to remember what pollutes? The gas combined cycle is the type of energy that generates the most carbon dioxide emissions in Spain. with difference. according to Electricity network dataThis year, 22 million tons of carbon dioxide were emitted from the gas. By comparison, coal emitted 6.5 million tons.
In other words, gas is already responsible for three times more pollution than coal in Spain. “Achievement” driven mainly by the sheer volume of the combined cycle being used at the expense of coal despite everything goes down.
It’s the year of gas. at the expense of renewable energy sources. One would think that since gas is so expensive, little will be produced and other types of energy will be chosen. Unfortunately this is not the case. Spain took advantage of Established as a granary in Europe To produce gas while taking advantage of the possibility of exporting it at a good price. What was necessary for countries like Germany, for Spain it was an opportunity.
Punishment? Well, the generation of renewable energy sources such as wind power has been reduced. The cap on gas helped lower the price of energy but It also had a rebound effect. If we look at the data from Red Eléctrica, the combined cycle has grown exponentially since June.
Since June, gas generation (combined cycle – yellow) has increased significantly, at the expense of wind (green) power. picture: electrical network
If this continues, gas will be the primary source of energy. It is not a trivial fact. Nuclear power was the primary source of energy in Spain For more than 10 years. Except last year, where wind energy has achieved A milestone in becoming the number one source of energy. But the landscape of 2022 is very different.
This year, the gas combined cycle was responsible for generating 57,000 GWh, while nuclear power is 45,000 GWh and wind energy is 46,000 GWh.
A very sad fact. We’ll see what happens at the end of the year, but if gas stays number one, we’ll have a passive feat. Not only will this be the first year that a polluting energy source is the most used, but we will also break the wind energy record overnight. What took a decade to achieve (bypassing nuclear) is no longer possible.
Bear the energy crisis by forgetting the environmental crisis. During these months we obtained huge reserves of gas. So much so that methane carriers They started turning around. Spain has enough reserves to last a little more than a month and Up to 50 days if restrictions apply. This indicates that there will be no interruption in supplies in the winter, unless the cold is severe and these reserves are not sufficient.
Spain has more gas at this time than in the past five years. At the moment we have a lot, despite the fact that this could change overnight. The price to pay for it is very high. We forgot about CO2 emissions and environmental crisis. This winter may finally be bearable and Europe will have its back covered, but it has done so at the expense of the energy we were meant to gradually weed out.
picture | American General Strength Association
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