Matt McGrath is an environment correspondent.
The European Commission wants to cut dependence on Russian gas by two thirds in a year.
The plan calls for ending reliance on Russian fossil fuels before 2030.
In the short term, gas should come from the US and Africa, while some countries may need to use more coal in the months ahead.
The EU wants to increase the use of renewable energy, such as wind, solar, and hydrogen.
While carbon emissions may rise in the short term, the longer-term aim is a faster transition to sustainable sources.
Europe's reliance on the country for oil and gas has been brought up in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The EU gets roughly 40% of its gas from Russia, according to figures from a research group.
The EU has laid out a strategy that could cut reliance on this fuel source by two thirds within a year.
The initial efforts of the REPowerEU plan are focused on gas and not fossil fuels.
The plan calls for finding alternative gas supplies in the next few months and boosting energy efficiency in the long run.
EU Commission vice president Frans Timmermans said it was hard.
It is possible if we are willing to go further and faster than we have done before.
The Commission wants to make it a legal requirement for EU countries to have a minimum level of gas storage.
The goal is to have gas stocks at 90 percent of capacity by the Autumn.
Talks are ongoing with existing gas suppliers.
Increased imports of Liquefied Natural Gas from suppliers such as the US and Australia will be a key focus in the coming months.
With Germany announcing plans for two new terminals to increase supplies, some experts are worried that this could increase dependency on fossil fuels.
Prof Paula Kivimaa from the University of Sussex said that there was a lot of political pressure to make energy policy decisions.
We have to look beyond the next couple of years. There is a risk that Germany will lock it in for the foreseeable future if it builds new infrastructure.
The Commission believes that Russia will be less reliant on gas supplies as there are new renewable energy projects coming online.
The EU says that countries should use the revenues from the Emissions Trading Scheme to pay for green energy sources.
Coal may be needed in the next few months.
There is some capacity from the power sector to generate more electricity with coal, and renewable energy products, as well as some new wind and solar products coming online, according to the head of gas and power markets research at analysts.
The power sector is the largest consumer of gas and this could be a way of reducing it. This could be done this year.
Frans Timmermans was aware that it might make sense for some countries to switch to coal in the short term, but this could bring its own difficulties. Europe gets 30% of its coal from Russia.
South Africa and Columbia are not easy to get alternative supplies from.
Carbon emissions would be boosted by a switch to coal.
The emissions from coal increased last year, because of an increase in coal power generation, said Carlos.
Coal power generation has more emissions than gas generation, so emissions will continue to rise if this continues.
There is huge potential in domestic rooftop solar power according to the Commission document.
The Commission says that up to 25% of the bloc's electricity consumption could be generated from panels on homes, farms and commercial buildings.
The Commission wants to reduce reliance on natural gas from any source, and also wants to increase the use of bio-gas, which is made from agricultural and food waste.
Increased investment in renewable energy could lead to an increase in green hydrogen which can be made from wind and solar power.
The Commission wants a quadrupling of hydrogen use by the year 2030.
The Chief Executive of the UK trade body Energy and Utilities Alliance said that they would gravitate towards green hydrogen over the next couple of decades.
This crisis has brought it to a head, and you will probably get decisions made in the 2020s to bring it all forward at least 10 years.
EU leaders will meet in Versailles later this week. All the proposed changes will not be cheap.
The very poor must be protected by Europe's governments.
In parallel with introducing sanctions a huge package of support must be deployed to ensure that they do not deepen Europe's ongoing energy poverty crisis and that no one has to choose between heating and eating, said Mike Davis from Global Witness.
The need for everyone to be able to afford to heat their home must come before worries about economic growth.
The Commission will encourage countries to impose windfall taxes on the profits of energy companies.
In the short term there will be added pain on the price front, but the poor may receive some protection.
"I don't see a simple way for consumers to be protected from the costs that will be associated with the transition," said Carlos.
You can follow Matt on social media.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
