Russian has said that it can‘t resume the supply of natural gas through a key pipeline to Germany for now because of what it said was a need for urgent maintenance work.

Why in news?

• There are growing concerns in European countries that Russia would shut down its gas supplies in retaliation against the current sanctions against Moscow.

What is Nord Stream 1?

• It is a system of offshore natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.
• Nord Stream 1 is a 1,224 km underwater gas pipeline that runs from Vyborg in northwest Russia to Lubmin in northeastern Germany via the Baltic Sea.
• Two further pipelines under construction running from Ust-Luga to Lubmin termed Nord Stream 2.
• Majority owned by the Russian energy giant Gazprom, the pipeline is the primary route through which its gas enters Germany.

Worry for Europe

• There have been growing concerns that there could be further restrictions to European gas supplies.
• European countries rely on Russian energy for their cold winters.
• But now they believe that Russia could weaponized their dependency as a response to their sanction due to the conflict in Ukraine.

What are Europe’s alternative sources of energy?

• As an alternative source for energy, European countries have increasingly turned towards the US, from whom they purchase liquified natural gas (LNG) that comes via ships.
• Since ship-delivered gas ends up being far more expensive, there are also attempts to get non-Russian pipeline gas from Norway and Azerbaijan.
• While EU countries were earlier seeking to phase out fossil fuels and emphasize renewable forms of energy, many are now returning to coal to deal with the energy crisis.

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