Although after an official notice of high Russian officials on termination of the gas pipeline South Stream it would be logical to close the topic, it seems that the game is not over. This situation reminds the joke about  „the patient who is more dead than alive“, or vice versa?

Russia‘s aggression against Ukraine made Europe consider seriously its energy independence. Most of all Europe is afraid of Moscow‘s unpredictability. Recently Russian President Vladimir Putin has been freely treating international agreements and commitments (e.g. the Budapest Memorandum signed in 1994). Therefore nobody can guarantee that in the context of sanctions to Russia Gazprom will not stop supplying gas to Europe.

There are practically no doubts that Lithuanian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal will be constructed. But there is also another important issue: who will by gas? According to Lithuanian politicians the terminal will increase Lithuania‘s energy independence but success of the project will depend on many factors. Here are some of them.

Today energy security is one of the key issues of the Lithuanian economic policy. It is usually referred to as a technological or economic  energy self-sufficiency problem, yet recently more focus is given to the impact of energy on the development of society. This aspect creates prerequisites for discussion: what are the views of social sciences with respect to the national energy security?

Belarus belongs to the electrical ring of the BRELL network standing for Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Energy transmission lines connect the country with Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine. Connections with Russia are of powerful, whereas the power of connections with Lithuania is likely to decrease since our country is determined to join the grid of Continental Europe.  

Vilnius is only 30 km away from the border of Belarus behind which energy and economic processes, as well as political and daily life of citizens are so different from that in Lithuania and the EU; nevertheless, it would be quite useful to have some basic knowledge about the neighbours (including their energy issues). 

A person used to technologies and various conveniences can hardly imagine a day without various forms of energy. Demand for energy is rising worldwide. Green technologies and innovations offer an environmentally sound alternative, yet we have to rely on economically feasible energy production technologies.

This part of the article is related to the negative consequences of rapid growth of renewable energy sources (RES) in Germany, and to potential renewable energy developments in Lithuania.

Although energetically Lithuania is still an Eastern country, it has the plans concerning the possibility to choose where to import gas and energy from. Lithuania can generate electricity from thermal power plants by using the imported gas - after 2016 the use of coal and fuel oil will be due to the EU’s environmental restrictions. Another option is to generate electricity in the nuclear power plant (NPP), and under the current conditions this option seems to be the best...

The discussion about diversification of natural gas supply for the Baltic States needs to be widened. Alternatives are worth to be considered despite the principal decision of the European Commission to build a regional LNG re-gasification terminal into one of the EU member coastal states of the Gulf of Finland. Alternatives are the floating LNG re-gasification terminal in Lithuania and competing fuels. This article is trying to answer the question: Is the building of a regional LNG terminal economically viable?

Wind energy

The first wind turbine in Lithuania was built in 1991 but due to technical problems it hasn’t been functioning for quite a long time. It was decided then that wind power is not sufficient for an effective power plant in Lithuania. Pursuant to the survey of 1994-1996, the Lithuanian coastal zone has considerable potential for wind power: the average wind speed here is 6,4 m/s.

In March a Japanese state-owned oil and gas company announced it had successfully extracted gas from methane hydrate deposits from under the seabed. Why is it important? Huge amount of gas extracted from the above sources determine radical changes in the global energy map since the Earth is rich with these resources.

According to The Economist, Europe has some kind of golden age of coal or coal renaissance. Since coal is by far the most polluting source of electricity with more greenhouse gas produced per kilowatt hour than any other fossil fuel, this is making a mockery of European environmental aspirations to reduce (compared to 1990) gas emissions of the EU Member States by 20 percent.

At the end of the last year the Centre for Geopolitical Studies organised an international conference „Nuclear Energy Triangle: Regional and Global Challenges of Nuclear Power“. The focus during the conference was given to the Lithuanian, Russian and Belarusian NPP projects, their economic feasibility and geopolitical implications.  

For effective complex defence of Latvia, the establishment of a permanent division of the National Armed Forces has started in Latgale, reported the official website of the Ministry of Defence.

On 13 January a concert "Together to the victory" was held in Lithuania, where the audience decided to support Ukraine's defence and donated 110 thousand Euros.

Alexander Lukashenko on 9 January signed a decree № 8 "On the establishment of visa-free entry and exit of foreign nationals." The document establishes visa-free entry to Belarus for a period not exceeding 5 days at the entrance through the checkpoint "National Airport Minsk" for citizens of 80 countries, - reported the press service of the President of Belarus.