Burning gas to produce electrical energy is ‘foolish,’ the CEO of power giant Enel states

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Burning gas to produce electricity is 'stupid,' the CEO of power giant Enel says

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Enel CEO Francesco Starace photographed in2019 In an interview with CNBC on May 24, 2022, Starace stated “you can produce electricity better, cheaper, without using gas.”

Giulio Napolitano|Bloomberg|Getty Images

The CEO of Italian power company Enel has actually called into question the continued advantage of utilizing gas to produce electrical energy, informing CNBC it is “stupid” which less expensive and much better options are now offered.

Speaking to CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the World Economic Forum, Francesco Starace gone over where Europe had actually sourced its gas from for many years, name-checking both Libya and Russia.

Russia was the most significant provider of petroleum oils and gas to the EU in 2015, according toEurostat The bloc is now trying to wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons following the nation’s intrusion of Ukraine.

“I think this is a big wake up call,” Starace stated, including that “too much gas” was being utilized “in a stupid way, because burning gas to produce electricity is, today, stupid.”

Instead, Starace stated there were more appealing options.

“You can produce electricity better, cheaper, without using gas … Gas is a precious molecule and you should leave it for … applications where that is needed,” he included.

These commercial usages consist of chemical applications, the paper market and usage in the production of ceramics and glass, he stated.

“Spare gas for them,” Starace stated. “Stop using gas for heating, stop using gas for generating electricity when there are alternatives that are better.”

Alternative approaches of electrical energy generation consist of wind and solar energy, to name a few.

According to a current report from Ember, a think tank concentrated on moving the world far from coal to what it calls “clean electricity,” nonrenewable fuel sources was accountable for 37% of EU electrical energy generation in 2021.

Breaking down the above figure, Ember’s report– released in February– stated fossil gas power produced 18% of the EU’s electrical energy, a three-year low. Renewables was accountable for 37%, while nuclear produced 26% of the bloc’s electrical energy in 2015, Ember stated.

Across the Atlantic, initial figures from the U.S. Energy Administration reveal that gas was utilized in 383% of energy scale electrical energy generation in the United States in 2021.

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In Starace’s viewpoint, modification is pertaining to Europe, where the EU has stated it wishes to be carbon neutral by2050 “Overall I think there will be a reduction of gas consumption in Europe across the board coming mostly from those, like I said, ‘stupid’ uses,” he stated.

“So burning it to generate electricity is not smart anymore, there is a better way,” he stated. “Burning it to heat our homes is not intelligent, there is a better way.”

The Enel Group– whose primary investor is the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance– has stated it will desert gas generation by2040 It likewise prepares to leave the retail gas market in 2040.

Starace was asked if the relocate to net-zero and concentrate on utilizing more renewables in Europe would be turbocharged by the present crisis.

“I think yes, definitely,” he stated. “Because on top of the economics, on top of the environment, there is now [a] security of supply concern.”

“So you have a combination of three factors, not two, so definitely there is an acceleration there,” he included.

He stated it might take 2 or 3 years however, “you will start to see a dent in gas consumption going forward, no question.”