Newspaper: Energy companies ask Britons to tackle polluting gases

European energy companies have asked the UK to urgently tackle the pollution from the gas it sends to continental Europe, British business newspaper Financial Times reports. Gas sent through pipelines to Belgium and the Netherlands contains “toxic” and “hazardous” substances, and pollution has increased recently, according to gas suppliers.

Companies that sounded the alarm include Belgium’s Fluxys, Franco-French electric company and Securing Energy for Europe. The latter company was formerly called Gazprom Germania and was acquired by Germany. They argue that decontamination causes problems such as delays in gas supplies in Europe and further costs. This year alone, companies have had to spend 320 million euros to clean gas.

Europe currently receives a lot of LNG, or LNG, from the United Kingdom. This gas arrives at various British ports from countries such as the United States and Qatar, where it is heated again until it turns into a gaseous form. It then travels through the British gas pipeline network to the undersea pipelines between Buckton in England, the Netherlands and Belgium. With this gas, Europe is trying to become less dependent on Russian gas.

British grid operator National Grid wants to increase the amount of gas transported to Europe. Then European countries can replenish their stocks before the onset of winter and the pressure on the British gas network drops again during the winter period. The manager says that because of the extra supply of gas, it makes sense that there would be more pollution and more maintenance needed.