Sustainable Gas: The Key to a Lower Carbon Future?

"In general, reporting of methane and carbon dioxide emissions is very varied across different regions and regulations," Balcombe said.

"Whilst carbon dioxide emissions are reasonably well understood, there is certainly a push to measure and report methane emissions, driven by the United States and is now being furthered internationally by the IPIECA [International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association] and OGCI [Oil and Gas Climate Initiative] groups of oil and gas companies. However, measurement of emissions must be of an appropriate standard and data should be validated."

While it is clear from the Sustainable Gas Institute's white paper that much more needs to be done in order to understand the full extent to carbon emissions in the natural gas supply chain, Balcombe argues that governments around the world could do more to help.

"Governments from the major gas producing nations should stipulate and validate detailed annual industry emissions measurements, from which the data should be anonymized and made publically available," he said.

This is important, Balcombe told us, because natural gas is likely to play a major role in future energy systems as the world decarbonizes, particularly on two fronts: replacing coal-fired power stations; and supporting renewables that supply energy intermittently.

"Hence, will need to continue to ensure that we deliver gas to end users with minimum environmental impact.

"However it is also clear that, whilst greenhouse gas emissions from gas are generally lower than for coal for electricity generation, gas emissions must be reduced significantly if gas is to continue to play a major role in energy systems past 2030. To ensure that we meet our carbon budget, recent studies suggest that we cannot burn 80 percent of our known reserves of fossil fuels.

"If we want to continue to meet our power demand, adding carbon capture and storage (CCS) to gas electricity generation may be paramount."

Balcombe added that the Sustainable Gas Institute's next white paper will assess the evidence on whether CCS has a significant role to play in supporting the generation of electricity using natural gas in order to minimize carbon emissions from the process.


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