Greetings to all,
As a speaker at the congress of Aspo Italy 2, I submitted a plan based on renewables and energy efficiency to reduce dependence on gas and oil. Considering all contributions obtainable those strategies we could stabilize gas consumption, reduce strongly the use of oil and hit the Kyoto target by the 2012. If every country in Europe could do this the gas crunch would be delayed in time, giving us more time to develope new solutions based on troposferical eolic or photovoltaic or even on new generation nuclear power. The fast approach of gas crunch is mostly a matter of increasing natgas consumption all over the continent. A strategic agreement with Russia is strongly needed, not only to realize new gas infrastructures, but even to increase energy efficency in gas use. Repowering of old soviet gas fired power stations with combined cycle and better insulation in central district heating stations could stop the increase of internal gas consumption making available stable gas amounts (and incomes) for export, while big european consumers, Germany, Italy, France and so on try to reduce consumption by efficency and renewables. Europe needs more time to develope solutions; Euan showed us that time could be too short to buld new nuclear plants before gas crunch happens. Efficency and renewables are quicker ways that can perform better.

Eugenio