The International Energy Agency’s latest World Energy Outlook 2020 (WEO) has been covered in a press release by the International Gas Union (IGU).
Highlights of the analysis, shared by ourselves, included comments such as:
- “without structural changes in the way energy is produced and consumed and prudent policy choices, the emissions reductions seen this year will be short-lived. The gas industry has a critical role to play.”
- “Natural gas demand will decline by only 3% in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, proving more resilient than oil and coal”
- “Even in a Delayed Recovery Scenario, gas demand recovers to the pre-pandemic level in 2024, and climbs 24% by 2040”
- “In countries planning a pathway to net-zero emissions, the gas industry will need to demonstrate progress in methane abatement…”
We share a commonly accepted view that natural gas still has a considerable role to play in the energy transition, by supporting the growing renewable power generation sector. Our belief is that with Gas2Wire, we can create ‘cleaner’ gas power projects, which will at the same time be an ‘enabler’ in the ‘greening’ process. As we cited in a previous article, Gas2Wire can deliver significant cuts to fugitive emissions, increase the rate/uptake of electrification and at the same time maximise the recovery of indigenous gas resources that will reduce the reliance upon more carbon intensive imports.
This continued need for natural gas, throughout the energy transition, is echoed in an article recently published by The Times. It cites the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a climate-sceptic group, think tank and registered educational charity, that alleged “the risk of lights going out all over Britain is rising relentlessly”. In context, if there is too much focus on intermittent renewables, and not the reliable power sources available to provide back-up, demand will be increasingly likely to exceed supply on those still and cold winter days. Gas2Wire is one of those reliable options.