The European Commission’s Task Force on European Energy Security is set to promote the deployment of smart thermostats and heat pumps in an effort to reduce demand for natural gas.
Member states and both European and US companies will be encouraged to deploy “at least 1.5 million energy-saving smart thermostats in European households this year”, according to a joint statement from commission president Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden, which was released today (Monday, June 27).
This was described as “an initial goal”, with both parties set to discuss policy recommendations with member states over the coming days to accelerate the production and deployment of these products.
The strategy is part of a wider range of measures planned to secure supplies for the EU while reducing reliance on Russian energy. In the statement, both parties said:
“We are also working together to find ways to further reduce Russia’s energy-derived revenues in the coming months to further curtail Russia’s ability to fund its unprovoked war in Ukraine.”
The presidents also stated that they are working to diversify Europe’s energy supplies by looking increasingly to the US, whose liquid natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe have almost tripled since March this year.
Methane
In the same statement, both parties said they will be increasing their efforts to reduce methane emissions through a number of measures. They said:
“The US and EU Commission will step up their cooperation to reduce methane emissions, to ensure that EU-US LNG trade is aligned with the scope of an internationally accepted measurement.”
They added that they will continue to work on reducing venting and flaring in natural gas production as well as methane leaking in the transmission and LNG supply chain.
Most recently, both parties cooperated alongside 11 other countries on the launch of the Global Methane Pledge Energy Pathway, a methane mitigation strategy for the oil and gas sector.