Europe and Energy

1. Securing energy supply
The purpose of the "European Energy Union" is to ensure the E.U.'s energy security, unify its energy markets and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete (shown here) has made diversifying natural gas supply a priority. The E.U. currently sources 40% of its gas from Russia but political relations are sometimes strained.

1. Securing energy supply
The purpose of the "European Energy Union" is to ensure the E.U.'s energy security, unify its energy markets and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete (shown here) has made diversifying natural gas supply a priority. The E.U. currently sources 40% of its gas from Russia but political relations are sometimes strained.

2. LNG from every corner of the world
One of the advantages of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is that, like crude oil, it can be imported from anywhere in the world without having to follow set pipeline routes. In its attempt to diversify supply, Europe has begun importing U.S. LNG produced from shale gas. Here, the first delivery is shown arriving at Portugal's Port of Sines in April 2016.

3. Norway, Europe's largest gas producer
Norway, which is not a member of the European Union, delivers 30% of the E.U.'s gas imports and has even become the leading supplier for the bloc's western flank. Norway is forecast to have extracted two-thirds of its reserves by 2035, with a major share of its remaining resources located in the Barents Sea, in the Arctic. The country has, however, instructed its enormous sovereign wealth fund to limit investment in coal-related activities. This photo shows the liquefaction plant on the island of Melkøya near the Snøhvit gas field.

4. Strategic oil and gas reserves
To improve supply security, the European Union has asked its Member States to store enough crude oil to cover at least 65 day's worth of consumption. France was forced to draw on these strategic reserves after strikes in May 2016 blocked the country's oil depots and refineries. Natural gas can also be stored either in liquid form in gas terminals or in gaseous form in underground aquifers or depleted fields. Shown in this photo are oil storage tanks in the French town of Donges, near Nantes.

5. Security and solidarity
Europe's energy security is also based on the idea of solidarity between countries. Electricity can easily be transferred from one national grid to another, usually with the aim of unifying power markets but sometimes also to ease a temporary shortage in another country. Pictured here is French transmission system operator RTE's central control room in the outskirts of Paris.

6. Nuclear power making a comeback in the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe
After years of financial negotiations, London has green-lighted the construction of two EPR nuclear reactors at the Hinkley Point site in southwest England (shown here). Led by French electric utility EDF and China-based CGN, the project has been estimated at €25 billion. Several Eastern European countries, notably Poland, Hungary and Romania, are also either studying or have approved plans to build new nuclear power plants. Russia's Rosatom is particularly active in this market.

7. Emissions without borders
Anti-nuclear groups, however, continue to fight the energy source and have raised concerns about radioactive emissions from aging plants potentially crossing borders in the event of an accident. In France, for example, the Fessenheim plant in Alsace has drawn criticism from activists in Germany, while the Bugey plant (shown here) has provoked similar reactions from neighboring Switzerland. Other associations have responded by condemning the (very real) smog blowing over the border from Germany's lignite-fired power plants.

8. Preparing the energy transition
The European Union has set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. Certain countries such as Poland, however, are still highly dependent on coal. And while Germany has invested heavily in renewable energies, its determination to phase out nuclear power has forced it to temporarily fall back on coal and lignite for nearly 45% of its electricity generation. This change resulted in a slight but symbolically embarrassing 0.7% rise in the country's CO₂ emissions in 2015, after a decline of more than 27% between 1990 and 2014.

9. Germany, European leader in renewables
Despite its use of coal, Germany has made a clear commitment to renewable energies. Renewables are deeply ingrained in everyday life, with municipalities ranging from the smallest towns to urban eco-districts all seeking to achieve maximum energy independence (see picture). Wildpoldsried (population of 2,600) in Bavaria has become famous for generating five times more electricity than it consumes thanks to a blend of wind, solar, geothermal power, biomass and energy efficiency measures. Several hundred residents have invested in the facilities and are now reaping the rewards.

10. Europe's largest solar farm
While France is not a major solar power producer, in December 2015 it nevertheless became home to the largest solar power plant in Europe. Located south of Bordeaux, the 260-hectare Cestas plant has a total capacity of 300 megawatt-peak (MWp) and uses one million polycrystalline silicon modules to power 25 small interconnected "plants" of 12 megawatt-peak each.

11. A solar-powered high-speed train in Belgium
Hidden under the long corridor of solar panels hugging the motorway in this photo is a high-speed train line. The first of its kind, this 3.4-kilometer tunnel bypasses the city of Antwerp in Belgium's north on the way to Amsterdam. The 16,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels installed on the roof of the tunnel feed into the standard electrical grid to help power the trains.

12. The most densely populated country... in terms of wind turbines
Counting some 5,000 wind turbines, including more than 400 located offshore, the Kingdom of Denmark has the world's highest concentration of wind power, with 886 watts per inhabitant compared with a European average of 279 watts. However, the unreliability of its wind resources – and the resulting power output – oblige the country to remain tightly integrated into the power grids of neighboring Scandinavian countries and Germany.

13. Geothermal power's long history
In 1904, Florentine prince and businessman Piero Ginori Conti managed to illuminate five light bulbs in Tuscany's geothermically active Larderello region by using the steam to drive a turbine. A geothermal power plant was built on the site in 1911 and remained the only one of its type in the world until 1958, when a second plant opened in New Zealand. The Larderello plant is still operating today with a capacity of 810 megawatts. It sits on 200 square kilometers of hot granite rocks, which produce steam of over 200°C.

14. Spain diversifying its use of biomass
Spanish group Ence is Europe's largest producer of wood pulp, with an annual output of 1 million metric tons. By privileging a locally produced feedstock comprising mainly eucalyptus, the group has helped to revitalize the rural economy. Some of the biomass is used to generate electricity and heat (capacity of 220 megawatts) in order to fuel the plant, making it self-sufficient. The excess power is sold to the national grid.

15. Marine energy becoming a reality
Tidal power, which harnesses the movement of the tides, has been around for more than 50 years thanks notably to the Rance plant in France. Other forms of marine energy are now also being developed, including wave and marine current power. This photo shows an underwater turbine built by Germany's Voith Hydro being tested in the Port of Cherbourg in France before being shipped to Scotland, where a number of particularly ambitious marine energy projects are being studied.