{"id":442444,"date":"2026-01-05T11:17:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T10:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/01\/05\/il-nodo-per-la-difesa-dellue-e-lenergia-ed-e-un-problema-serio\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:46:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T11:46:38","slug":"energy-is-the-key-issue-for-eu-defense-and-a-serious-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/01\/05\/energy-is-the-key-issue-for-eu-defense-and-a-serious-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy is the key issue for EU defense – and a serious problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – European defence is becoming a titanic undertaking. Amid differing ‘visions’ and growing energy needs, the security and preparedness strategy put forward by the Commission in its White Paper <\/a>has, as its main side effects, incompatibility with the NATO model<\/strong>, new friction with the United States, and the risk of further increases in energy bills<\/strong>. The European Parliament\u2019s Think Tank lists these critical issues in a study<\/a> for the Industry Committee.<\/p>\n

The document notes that currently, “the European defence sector operates in an increasingly complex energy landscape, defined by interdependencies<\/strong>.” This dependence “exposes Europe to multiple risks, including supply chain disruptions, declining domestic refining capacities, and geopolitical pressures.” The EU must change its approach, but the path ahead is not easy.<\/p>\n

The energy challenge<\/span><\/h4>\n

If not the main issue, energy is certainly one of the most complex problems to solve. Currently, electricity accounts for just 17 percent of defence-related energy consumption.<\/strong> However, “modern defence operations and industrial production are increasingly energy-intensive<\/strong>\u200b, making energy security a central factor in European defence readiness and strategic autonomy,” the experts from the European Parliament’s Think Tank write.<\/p>\n

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\"difesa<\/a><\/div>\n
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In the background, there is therefore an increasing demand for electricity<\/strong> and electrification, which are indispensable for advanced weaponry, drones, digital infrastructure, and electric mobility. On the one hand, this is “creating new interdependencies between operational readiness and infrastructure resilience,” and on the other hand, rising demand inevitably drives up prices, so an increase in supply commensurate with demand will be needed to avoid further increases in energy bills.<\/p>\n

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Defense runs on oil. The Green Deal is impossible, especially within NATO<\/h4>\n
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The second aspect of the dependency between energy and defence is of sources. What powers security? Oil accounts for 52 percent of total demand in the sector. “EU defence remains heavily reliant on liquid fuels<\/strong>, particularly for aviation and industrial processes, creating structural vulnerabilities amid declining refining capacity and import dependencies,” the study further notes. All of this results in a “fundamental asymmetry between the US<\/strong>,” as a major hydrocarbon producer, and Europe, which is very import dependent in this field. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2025\/10\/16\/eu-unveils-its-defence-roadmap-work-to-start-in-early-2026-aiming-for-2030-readiness\/<\/a><\/div>\n
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These differences lead to diverging energy priorities for defence.<\/span><\/span> Europe is promoting renewables to achieve strategic autonomy, while the United States may remain anchored to fossil fuels – as the invasion of Venezuela also suggests – and use renewables only as a strategic complement.<\/span><\/span> “Under NATO<\/a>‘s umbrella,
\nreconciling these conflicting interests will become progressively more challenging<\/strong>,” the study warns. Certainly, as long as Donald Trump sits in the White House, the idea of ‘green’ armed forces is out of the question, and now, at the political level, it is necessary to determine how to invest in industry the resources that Europeans pledged within the framework of the Atlantic Alliance.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Alternatives to crude oil and the risks of new dependencies on China<\/h4>\n
Deployable microgrids, portable solar-battery and wind systems, and alternative fuels such as sustainable
\naviation fuels “can support operational flexibility, reduce logistical vulnerabilities, and complement
\nconventional energy sources,” the study requested by the Industry Committee suggests.<\/span><\/span> Of course, these are solutions that still need to be developed, but their evolving value is acknowledged. “Although these technologies currently face limitations in energy density,
\nreliability, and integration, pilot projects and institutional initiatives highlight their potential for both military
\nuse and dual-use civilian applications.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The European Union and its member states, however, remain deeply dependent on critical raw materials<\/strong>, of which they are poor, and for which they must rely on imports<\/strong>. China is one of the world\u2019s leading producers of a wide range of raw materials needed for photovoltaic technologies and batteries (rare earths, tantalum, lithium, among others). Sustainable defence, therefore, risks being unsustainable.<\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next-generation security systems are increasingly energy-intensive, with the resulting risks for utility bills and new dependencies. Defence runs on oil, and Europe’s sustainable agenda clashes with NATO and the US. Clean-tech can help, but resources are needed on which China has an advantage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":442431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[30809,30800],"tags":[27336,31257,25866,25755,25905,31521,25745,25886],"class_list":["post-442444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-defence-security","category-energy","tag-energy-en","tag-news-parliament-en","tag-green-deal-en","tag-nato-en-10","tag-safety-en","tag-sustainability-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442444"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":442445,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442444\/revisions\/442445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}