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If Europeans can reduce their gas consumption quickly as the heating season winds down and gas power plants are replaced with other sources, they can slow the onset of pain. Fuller use of liquefied natural gas imports from coastal terminals could also help.

In the longer run, the European Union is working to increase energy efficiency in existing buildings, which are already efficient compared with US buildings. It also aims to fill gas storage caverns to 90% capacity during the off-peak seasons when gas demand is lower, and ramp up local production of biomethane - which can substitute for fossil gas. Biomethane is derived from agricultural waste or other organic, renewable sources.

Building more import terminals to bring in liquefied natural gas from the US, Canada or other friendly nations is also an option. However, creating new fossil fuel infrastructure would conflict with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change.

Ramping up wind, solar, geothermal and nuclear power plants as quickly as possible to displace the continent's natural gas power plants is a key priority for the EU. So is replacing natural gas heating systems with electric heat pumps, which can also provide air conditioning during the continent's increasingly frequent and intense summer heat waves.

These solutions align with the EU's climate objectives, which suggests that Russia's gas cutoffs might ultimately accelerate European nations' efforts to shift to renewable energy and more efficient use of electricity.

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