The European Union should do more to use its energy efficiently and to increase the use of renewables, says the energy watchdog of the world’s biggest economies.
Europe’s oil and gas demands need to be cut back as fears of supply shortages are growing, said head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Claude Mandil the Financial Times on Wednesday (12 April).
“One of the most important ways to increase energy security is through energy efficiency and the market signals for that are not big enough,” Mr Mandil said.
“I don’t think goals and targets in shares of renewables or in decreasing energy consumption is a useful tool. We think the [European] Commission could be bolder on norms and standards. It’s within its responsibility.”
Mr Mandil fears IEA 2010 estimations of Russian oil supplies, although reliable, have been set too high – adding to Europe’s energy supply concerns.
Moreover, the IEA is worried about the increasingly monopolistic status of Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom and says that the fact that Europe cannot import gas from Russia unless Gazprom agrees, undermines European energy security.
Russia is the world’s largest producer of gas and the second largest producer of oil. More than 50 percent of European gas imports come from the world’s largest country.
