Fossil gas is a problem. Fossil gas is dirty and a major cause of the climate crisis. It leaks methane in its raw form and emits CO2 when burned – both of which are greenhouse gases that are causing catastrophic changes to our climate.
Our global dependency on fossil fuels is driving the climate crisis but it is also pushing people into energy poverty whilst providing financial and political power to despots, dictators and warmongers at the same time.
This infographic puts the gas problem in perspective and illustrates the size of the problem in terms of emissions but also in terms of the money that is being wasted on infrastructure and assets that will become irrelevant in a climate neutral Europe.
Download the full infographic or discover the individual blocks below.
Pipelines
The earth is being strangled with gas pipelines. The EU’s transmission and distribution network consists of 2.2+ million kilometres of them. That is 55 times the length of the equator.
Methane emissions
Gas and coal may look different, but their climate impact tells the same story. Gas leaks in the EU’s energy sector amount to 15.36 Mt CO2e in methane emissions. That’s the equivalent of burning more than 7.7 million tonnes of coal, which weigh as much as 762 Eiffel Towers.
Amount of CO2 emissions from gas
Europe emits 1029 megatons of CO2 each year by burning gas. It would take over 4 million of 4 km² of forest to absorb this amount of greenhouse gas emissions. That is an area roughly twice the size of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland combined.
Timeline and stranded assets
As of 2024, the EU planned to invest 84+ billion euros in gas infrastructure across the bloc. Seeing as gas plants have a typical running lifespan of 40 years and gas pipelines last for 50 years, these are bound to become stranded assets.
Gas subsidies
Europe spent €46 billion on gas subsidies in 2022 alone. That amount could have been used to cover nearly one third of the investment needed for the EU’s energy savings targets for buildings, ultimately leading to lower energy consumption, lower energy bills and higher quality of life.
Gas expenditure
EU consumers spend 200bn euros on gas per year. The Social Climate Fund, set up to help alleviate energy poverty in the EU, is only a fifth of that amount.
Footnotes
- https://www.acer.europa.eu/gas-factsheet
- https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/methane-emissions-in-the-eu
- https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
- https://www.iea.org/regions/europe/emissions
- https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
- https://globalenergymonitor.org/report/europe-gas-tracker-2024/
- https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/maps-and-charts/fossil-fuel-subsidies-in-eu-1-daviz
- https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/how-finance-european-unions-building-decarbonisation-plan
- https://www.acer.europa.eu/gas-factsheet
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Stopping climate breakdown means keeping all fossil fuels in the ground – including gas. Governments and banks must stop financing gas pipelines and terminals which would lock us into a fossil-fuel future.
