By Victoria Waldersee

BERLIN (Reuters – BMW’s production chief said Monday that the company is looking into new investments in renewable, geothermal, and hydrogen energy. He warned that an embargo against Russian gas could cause the sector to halt.

The 54% of the carmaker’s energy use in 2021 was natural gas. It is currently looking at where solar panels can be added to its plants, and working with local authorities on plans to transport hydrogen from its Leipzig plant.

Milan Nedeljkovic claimed that hydrogen is well-suited for reducing or fully compensating gas demand.

He said that his industry represents around 37% German natural gasoline consumption when asked how BMW plants would react to a stop in Russian gas supplies. The entire industry would be affected.

BMW plans are part of wider German industry preparations to move away from Russian Gas and to devise a way to limit supplies in case of an abrupt halt to delivery.

A new Debrecen plant, located in Hungary, is the first factory that will run completely without fossil fuels.

Although geothermal power has a higher stability than other weather-dependent renewables, it hasn’t seen the same growth and investment as solar or wind. This is partly because of high initial costs and complicated licensing requirements for drilling.

Nedeljkovic answered a question about nuclear energy’s potential, as it accounts for approximately half of Hungary’s energy supplies but is currently being phased out by Germany. He said that “Nuclear Energy can be stabilizing factor, especially in volatile times.” Regenerative energy is our main source of power for our production.