With the ink barely dry on Germany’s Coal Commission report recommending a phase out by 2038, the oil and gas industry is breaking out the champagne. While environmentalists criticize the plan’s particulars, the other side is celebrating the slaying of their strongest competitor. And they’re translating that joy into furious lobbying aimed at ensuring that renewables don’t fill the majority of the void as coal plants are shuttered. L. Michael Buchsbaum explains. Gas infrastructure set to expand in all directions With the environmental community and media otherwise focused on the Commission’s report, in late January Chancellor Angel Merkel (CDU) addressed the 49th Annual World Economic Meeting and let the cat out of the proverbial bag: “if we phase out coal and nuclear energy, then we have to be honest and tell people that we’ll need more natural gas.” Calling the growing tug-of-war over where that future gas supply comes from “a bit over the top,” she reassured the gathered industry executives and politicians that gas will “play a greater role for another few decades. We’re thus … Continue reading Gas wars part one: let’s be honest about Germany’s growing dependence on fossil gas