Alexander Medvedev

According to Gazprom's director general of export, Alexander Medvedev, UK's wind farm plans are "irrational", adding the country would be better off developing more gas-fired power plants, which are environmentally acceptable, and are a more feasible and economically viable solution for cleaner energy.

In his statement, he pointed out that the UK should be more "pragmatic" in its approach to achieving greenhouse emission targets set for 2020. If the UK doesn't include sources like gas, it will be very hard for the country to achieve 30% renewable energy generation by 2020. He believes gas should be treated equally to renewable energy source such as wind, solar, marine or biomass energy.

Gas-fired power plants are known to have a reduced carbon emissions profile by as much as 50% compared to conventional fossil fuel power plants. Many oil companies have turned towards developing gas-fired power plants using biofuel derived from biomass resources. There is an overall shift towards gas in the formerly oil-oriented energy industry, as an alternative that is environmentally more acceptable, and possibly more viable given the newly set energy development trends.

Medvedev further revealed Gazprom has entered into long term supply contracts with energy companies from Germany and Italy, according to the Guardian. With the reduced gas prices, the companies are now purchasing fixed amounts of gas over a period of several years.

On the other hand, relying too much on gas as a source of energy, means relying on supplies from Russia, the world's largest gas producer, and the main supplier of gas to Western Europe. When politics enter the arena, it becomes more clear that renewable energy will definitely be pursued further, mainly to provide a more independent position for Western European countries, at least until the Nabucco gas supply pipeline gets built, or rather if it gets built.

[image: Gazprom]