Energy saving measures in full swing across Europe ahead of cold winter

In view of the energy crisis the world is going through, and in order to ensure the preservation of energy supplies, Europe has begun implementing energy-saving measures in anticipation of the possibility of a decrease in natural gas coming from Russia recently, and for fear that its supplies from Russia will be completely cut off during the winter months.

As in the case of many European countries, Germany, the largest European economy and the backbone of the European Union, is also dependent on Russia for energy, especially for natural gas.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany met half of its natural gas needs from Russia, but recently it has been striving to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, as Germany resorted to alternative sources, bringing its needs down to 35 percent.

Germany's actions and policy will enable Germany to have alternative sources, as well as prevent the energy chaos that might occur in the event of a natural gas outage from Russia.

As in many countries, Germany announced that the heating of public buildings will not exceed 19 degrees Celsius in order to save energy and that lighting of buildings and archaeological sites at night, as well as outdoor advertising systems, will be prohibited.

Previously, preparations were made to fill natural gas tanks before winter in order to ensure the security of natural gas supply.

Now that Germany's natural gas reserves are equivalent to 25 percent of total consumption, filling it completely will cause major disruptions but also save time in finding new resources.

Meanwhile, important measures have been taken to provide natural gas, such as using more renewable energy to generate electricity, considering reusing coal-fired power plants, and saving energy in areas that are not used permanently.

According to the natural gas emergency plan prepared by the European Union to save energy, the European Union countries are expected to reduce their consumption of natural gas by 15 percent by the end of March 2023.

This means saving 45 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. This amount resulting from the provision of natural gas is more than the annual consumption of natural gas in many European countries and is equivalent to the annual consumption of natural gas in many countries such as the Netherlands.

Energy conservation is vital to ensuring the security of energy supply. Energy saving will bring economic gains, especially for countries that depend on foreign energy and have a deficit in importing this energy.

But due to the strong relationship between energy consumption and production, if energy saving leads to a sharp reduction in energy consumption, it will also have serious negative effects on production.

With the European economy showing signs of stagnation recently, this drop in energy consumption may add to the economic stagnation.

Therefore, a delicate balance should be maintained between saving energy and reducing energy consumption so that this does not negatively impact the economy.