The EU has committed to reaching an agreement on regulating gas demand reduction.
The regulation includes a voluntary reduction of natural gas demand by 15% during winter 2022.
It also includes a mandatory reduction requirement in the event of a “substantial” risk of an EU-wide gas shortage.
This agreement includes a range of flexibilities that reflect different Member State circumstances with regard to gas supplies.
Ireland has welcomed what it said is “member states across the EU showing solidarity against the weaponization of gas supplies by Russia”.
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications issued a statement regarding the matter on July 26th, 2022.
Gas demand
A spokesperson for the department said:
“In Ireland’s case, it has been recognised that our gas grid is not interconnected to any other member state.”
“Ireland, therefore, has the possibility of an exemption from the mandatory reduction requirement.
The department says it will “now review and consider the implications of this regulation, in conjunction with the Energy Security Emergency Group, to examine options to reduce gas demand in solidarity with other EU member states”.
The EU commitment aligns with messaging from the Irish Government’s own ‘Reduce Your Use’ campaign as part of the National Energy Security Framework in April this year.
The next phase of the ‘Reduce Your Use’ campaign, which will begin over the coming months, will be “very important” to help save both energy use and costs for consumers, the department says.
The department spokesperson concluded: “While Ireland is not connected to the EU gas system, the increasing cost of gas will impact on Irish users.”
3 Dutch companies join forces to help farmers cut nitrogen emissions
In other news, Lely, a global producer of robotic milking and feeding systems, has partnered with dairy co-op, FrieslandCampina and bank, Rabobank, to launch a project to reduce nitrogen emissions on Dutch dairy farms.
They plan to install 96 Lely Spheres across all Dutch provinces and hope this initiative will pave the way for the industry “on a broader scale”.
According to the parties, “the Lely Sphere reduces nitrogen emissions up to 70% in the barn of a dairy farm”.
As a result, they believe that a “major” nitrogen reduction in dairy farming is “possible”.
Read more on this news article.
