[Overschild (Netherlands) 15th Archyde.com]–Janny Schlaj and Bert Schlaj are in World War II after seeing pictures of hospitals and apartments in various parts of Ukraine being destroyed by bombing. I remembered the sight of my country. The couple, who lived in the northern part of the Netherlands after retirement, found themselves in an effective way to stall military operations by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yes, it’s natural gas.
The Schlag family is built on the Groningen gas field, one of the largest gas fields in Europe. The two have opposed gas production since they were forced to leave their homes ten years ago by a series of earthquakes. But, like the majority of polls in the state, the two now say they can allow increased gas production if it helps Ukraine.
“I never thought that these words would come out of my mouth,” said Bad Schlaj, a former assistant at the University of Groningen, standing by the Ukrainian flag on the windowsill. ..
The house of Mr. and Mrs. Schlag was built by the prefabricated method in 1997, but last year it had to be dismantled and rebuilt. This is because it was judged to be unsafe due to the earthquake triggered by gas mining. In Ofelshilt, a 500-population village where two people live, almost all homes need to be completely renovated or rebuilt, the couple said. Locals have been campaigning for gas field closures for years.
“Putin has succeeded in changing my mind,” says Bert.
These reactions represent a sharp change in energy policy across Europe triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky describes the invasion as a new “Iron Curtain” that has fallen across the European continent. This highlighted Europe’s reliance on Russian energy, which led to a rush to secure one of the few energy sources outside Russia. Non-Russian sources include the United States and Qatar, as well as Japan, which plans to lend some of its domestic imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe.
Russia has denied attacks on civilians and claims to be developing “special military operations” to demilitarize Ukraine. While conflicts are intensifying, Russian natural gas, which accounts for 40% of Europe’s supply, is still flowing into Europe. But Russian Foreign Ministry officials said yesterday that the European Union (EU) will at least triple the cost of oil, gas and electricity as a result of sanctions on the Russian government.
Policymakers who have promoted decarbonization to curb climate change, from Germany to the United Kingdom, are under pressure to scale down their ambitious plans. Germany has the potential to extend the deadline for coal-fired and even nuclear power. British parliamentarians have called on the government to lift the suspension of fracking (hydraulic fracturing), a resource extraction method that is said to have a high environmental impact.
The recoverable reserves of the Groningen gas field are about 450 billion cubic meters. According to Rene Peters, a natural gas expert at the Dutch Institute for Applied Sciences (TNO in Dutch), it is equivalent to about three years’ worth of European imports from Russia.
Natural gas from Groningen has been used for domestic heating and power generation in Japan for half a century, supplying electricity to domestic and foreign industries. According to the Dutch Bureau of Statistics, natural gas exported from the Netherlands to Germany, Belgium and France is worth € 202 billion in the 2000-2018 period.
However, it has been scientifically proven that gas mining impairs the stability of the land above the gas deposits. Last week, a Dutch national group monitoring gas production warned that even at low levels of production, gas mining increases the risk of earthquakes for people living in unsafe homes.
“Since the risk of death of Groningen residents is increasing due to the collapse of houses due to a large earthquake, or stress and anxiety, it is necessary to gradually withdraw from gas production and urgently realize seismic retrofitting for safety. “Will continue,” said Theodor Kockelkolen, general inspector at the Dutch Mining Supervision Agency.
The Dutch government said in a statement released yesterday that the goal of permanently closing gas fields as soon as possible, namely 2023 or 2024, remains unchanged. However, the government says that new uncertainties “partially due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” may require natural gas from Groningen as a last resort.
Over the years of compensation developed against the Dutch oil company (NAM), a joint venture between the Dutch government and the international oil majors Shell and ExxonMobil, which controls production in the Groningen gas field. After the conflict, many Groningen residents are opposed to increasing production. NAM declined to comment on this article.
The Schlags say they had to withdraw € 25,000 from their severance pay savings to complete the reconstruction of the house. The couple want the government to promise to cover the cost of potential damage in the future, but said that if things improve, it might make sense for the house to collapse. With.
“This city has been swayed by the gas fields,” says Bert. “But if we can take advantage of it in some positive direction and contribute to ending the war in Ukraine, we need to do so.”
If so, it would be a dramatic change for the residents of Groningen. Just weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Schlags, who live on streets dotted with home renovation works and abandoned houses, march with burning torches to stop gas mining. Was participating in.
Discovered in 1959, the Groningen gas field is one of the largest in the world. In many respects, this gas field symbolized the prosperity of postwar Holland and the entire European continent.
In 1982, when production peaked, Groningen covered nearly one-fifth of the Dutch annual government budget. Revenue from gas has funded large-scale infrastructure projects. Millions of households and businesses have connected to a nationwide pipeline network, and natural gas has generated electricity and accelerated industrial growth.
According to Jan Wigboldus, a leader of the Citizens’ Group Groningen Gasverard, who lobbied for the relief of local residents’ concerns about gas production, Groningen itself benefited from gas production. It was only a few.
A systematic opposition movement began in 2009, but it took many years for residents to win compensation for home repairs. Only in 2015 did authorities acknowledge that earthquakes are a safety risk.
NAM has long denied the link between earthquakes and gas production. In 2018, NAM agreed with the Dutch government to pay compensation and paid most of the cost. But last month, the company filed a mediation for ongoing damages payments.
A large earthquake could destroy the homes of many inhabitants. According to a report prepared by the government coordinator in charge of Groningen, as of the end of January, safety was declared among more than 27,000 households whose need for reinforcement was confirmed by a government-directed investigation. Is only 14%, and the plan is said to be several years behind.
More than 200,000 damage reports have been filed since the 1990s, Wigboldus said.
However, the invasion of Ukraine has created a new situation over the concerns of the Groningen population.
The Schlags said the fighting in Ukraine coincided with the memory of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II. At that time, a man in Groningen was driven into trench digging and the breakwater was destroyed to cause a flood. This was part of an attempt to slow the advance of Allied troops, but with no effect.
According to a recent poll conducted by the Dutch media, public support is supported even if the government abandons the policy of tapering natural gas mining to zero if it results in a reduction in Russian natural gas imports. It was suggested that it could be expected.
In a poll conducted by Doug Brad van Norden, 61% of the 3,000 respondents in Groningen depended on the Russian government to supply up to 20% of the gas consumed by the Netherlands. If it can be suppressed, he said he would support the increase in production in the local gas field.
At the end of February, a national poll conducted for the Dutch public television current affair “Ahn Fundarg” found that 63% of the more than 21,000 respondents said Russia would stop exporting to Europe. For example, he said he would support the resumption of mining in the Groningen gas field.
“Here, a house with a safety problem may collapse,” Wigboldus said. “But in Ukraine, blood is bleeding right now.”
(Anthony Deutsch reporter, translation: Acrelen)