Episode 9: Ending Europe’s Gas Addiction

Fossil gas is an urgent example of the tension between social and climate issues. While climate scientists point out the use of methane gas must be phased out, millions of people are suffering from rising gas prices. How does Russia’s war on Ukraine and Germany’s suspension of the NordStream 2 pipeline from Russia change this terrain? And is it possible to transition away from gas without an explosion in energy poverty – or a planned decrease in energy use?

In this episode we begin to seek answers to these questions, in conversation with Simon Pirani, Honorary Professor at the University of Durham, former trade union journalist, and Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. The episode is co-hosted and prepared in collaboration with Oliver Bugge Hunt, who is researching the politics of pipelines at the University of Copenhagen, and supporting struggles against the Baltic Pipeline in Denmark.

Episode Links:

• Simon Pirani’s Burning Up: A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption: www.plutobooks.com/9780745335612/burning-up
• Simon’s blog: peopleandnature.wordpress.com/about/
• Leeds trade union council report: leedstuc.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/dr…pumps..pdf
• Anti-Baltic pipe movement: www.balticpipe.net/en/

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Illustration: Many thanks to Amanda Priebe (copyright)