Milan Zlatkovikj
The role of natural gas in energy transition
Energy
transition, a term, an idea, a movement or however we classify it, looked
highly unlikely several years ago. However, slightly, shy, it gathered pace and
momentum, and here it is. It is not a desire or a wish, but a necessity, a
must! Although still it
is not clearly defined how exactly this process will be executed, it is
ongoing and we have to reevaluate which energy sources will stay there and
which will need to be changed. The main goals here are to: reduce greenhouse
gasses (GHG) emissions, reduce pollution and environmental impact from energy
use, to develop energy sources which will be renewable and sustainable, to
improve energy efficiency etc.
Natural gas, as part of the energy mix, roughly
covers 1/3 of primary
energy consumption. Compared to other fossil fuels, natural gas has a trend
of constant stable growth and the predictions
are this growth to continue in the future. Natural gas is regarded as the most
practical fuel because of its advantages compared
to other fossil fuels - more environmental friendly, easy to transport,
high calorific value, and compared to renewable sources – it gives stable power
output and is used to cover intermittency of renewables to avoid blackouts. Natural
gas is used for: power generation, heating, hot water generation, cooking
production processes in industry and transport.
Similar as oil, natural gas reserves
are not evenly distributed around the world. Very often gas fields are located
next to oil fields. Because of this, international trade of natural gas is very
important factor, when we evaluate the possible use of the fuel. Gas transport
in the past was price competitive only through long pipelines, but recently the
trade of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has the highest increase and it is
predicted to be one of the main factors that will contribute to higher natural
gas use. Although LNG terminals require huge investment, many ongoing
projects around the globe verify its price-competitiveness.
Additional advantage of natural gas is the
possibility to conversion to liquid fuels and to store energy from renewable
sources. Gas-to-liquids (GTL)
is a technology to use gas feedstock to produce liquid fuels such as diesel and
gasoline. Power to
gas is a conversion technology which utilizes electricity to generate gas,
and it is used to store energy.
Natural gas, with all its advantages, is a fuel
that will play strong part in every scenario for energy transition. It will be
used together
with renewable energy sources in the drive for clean, renewable and sustainable
energy supply in the world.
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