European governments are drafting drastic measures to cut energy demand and survive the winter without natural gas from Russia. That’s going to be a huge challenge. Gas prices have eased from record levels, but remain at eye-watering levels, and the toll of industrial shutdowns is lengthening. A key meeting of European Union energy ministers on Friday aims to ease the impact of the worst energy crisis in decades. Russia has already slashed gas exports to Europe to the bare minimum in retaliation for international sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, and the recent move to halt crucial Nord Stream pipeline flows to Germany has ramped up the pressure on the bloc. Even assuming the region succeeds in curbing gas consumption by a targeted 15%, there’s still a big question mark over whether alternative power sources including hydro and nuclear could fill the gap left by Russian cuts. It’s also […]