Future Planet reports:

At a large industrial facility not far south-west of Ireland’s capital Dublin, one man says old food waste and pig manure can help Europe fight climate change – and reduce its reliance on Russia for energy. Billy Costello explains that decaying organic matter releases biogas, which firms like Green Generation, the one he directs, can collect and purify to produce methane, or biomethane as it’s called when it comes from such sources.

It’s an opportunity to find sources of energy other than the natural gas supplied by Russia and thereby distance ourselves from Vladimir Putin’s regime, he argues: “The best thing is if you can make the gas, put it in and replace Putin.”

European governments have faced a difficult scenario since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, on one hand introducing sanctions against Putin’s regime and wealthy businessmen close to him, while on the other continuing to buy millions of dollars of gas every day from Russia. Europe gets roughly 40% of its natural gas from Russia and some countries have been reluctant to follow the US in imposing a ban on imports of Russian fossil fuels.

This is why the European Commission recently decided to set new, ambitious targets for biomethane production and other fuel sources in Europe. President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a statement, “We must become independent from Russian oil, coal and gas. We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us.” [Continue reading…]