Europe's dependence on Russian gas continues to be one of the keys to the war after the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Fuel is still

the lungs of many European Union economies

and also the heating of their homes, so sanctions and measures are limited, to a certain extent, by the fear that Putin will turn off the tap.

In this context, an alternative emerges, increasingly media coverage, which would give citizens a figurative gun: the thermostat.

And, continuing with the metaphor, each degree that the temperature of the houses was lowered would mean a bullet fired against the Russian economy.

The Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, asked citizens to "cut off the gas in their homes" and "reduce the dependency of those who attack Ukraine."

The International Energy Agency (IEA) also alluded to the idea in a decalogue of measures "to reduce the European Union's dependence on Russian natural gas."

Catherine MacGregor

, general director of the energy company Engie, had emphasized this possibility in a recent interview with

Radio France

in which she assured that it could be equivalent to about

12 methane tankers.

.

It is, therefore, more than a toast to the sun, although, according to experts, more than an immediate blow would allow Europe to abandon Russian fuel in the medium term.

According to the latest data published in the Spanish Gas System Report (corresponding to 2020), gas from Russia provided 38,133 gigawatt hours of energy that year.

The same document establishes that the average volume discharged per ship in 2020 was 976 GWh, so it can be said that, broadly speaking, Russia's contribution was equivalent to

39 methane tankers

.

That is, with the calculations of Catherine MacGregor, the dependence on Russian gas would be reduced by a quarter with a national lowering of heating.

IEA, for its part, considers that demand would be reduced by

10,000 million cubic meters of natural gas

, although in its example it would be the entire European Union that would attend this protest at the thermostat.

Another study, in this case by Selectra, establishes that if all the stores and offices in Europe reduced their temperature by three degrees, dependence on Russian gas would be reduced by 4.9%, while if this same measure also reaches homes and tertiary sector, would fall by 16.5%.

On the horizon is next winter, when the EU wants to have its gas reserves at 90%.

A gas that, as they advanced on Tuesday, should already come in its great majority - at least two thirds - from other sources.

And it is that, according to

Javier Sánchez Prieto

, professor of the Master in Environmental and Energy Management in Organizations and researcher of the group 'Industry, Energy and Sustainability' of UNIR, it is not so much about punishing Russia as forgetting about it.

"Rather than boycott Russia with that, what we do is try to get out of the way: if there comes a time when they no longer sell us gas or when we decide that we are not going to buy it, what we need is another source, at least immediately," says Sánchez.

"If we start from the basis that almost everyone has heating or heaters that work with gas at home and we use not only heating, but hot water, every day, if we can make savings of any kind, of

course will have an impact

," he details.

According to his calculations, the drop in temperature would mean a daily saving per household of one kilowatt hour if the heating is on all day.

This would be equivalent to about

85 liters of gas per day

which, even if reduced by half to compensate for the times when the thermostat is turned off, adds up to a considerable amount if multiplied by the entire Spanish housing stock and buildings.

In any case, the professor reminds that it should not be seen as a citizen action against Russia, but simply as a saving that will always be beneficial from an economic and environmental point of view.

In the worst case, it would raise reserves for the future.

"In the end, it is the government that has to decide whether to buy the gas from Russia or from another country," he recalls.

"The general idea is that you, individually, are hardly going to notice it in comfort," he explains.

And that "any energy efficiency measure that allows consumption to be lower is always going to be positive".

In fact, the Union itself appeals to the importance of this efficiency in the current energy crisis.

Spain only receives 10% of its gas from Russia, but

its dependence increased in 2020

compared to 2019. And France is at 20%, which in the midst of the war only seems scarce if compared to 50% of Germany or 40% of the European average.

Every liter counts.

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  • Russia

  • European Union

  • Europe

  • Ukraine

  • Joseph Borrell

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