Joint opinion piece published by Energir, GRDF, GRTgaz and SoCalGas on the occasion of the meeting of their senior executives
Leveraging gas operators' existing infrastructure and expertise will help provide the most affordable and resilient path to carbon neutrality.
Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, governments, scientists and the private sector have been converging on the tools the world needs to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century. At the same time, geopolitical events have made the security of the national energy supply an urgent priority. New research and collaboration between researchers and energy companies around the world, as well as success stories in the operational development of renewable gases (energy produced from renewable sources) in many countries, are giving decision-makers a better idea of how decarbonization and energy security are within our grasp.
Renewable gases should account for almost half of net zero energy consumption by 2050*.
*According to an analysis by the Green Hydrogen Coalition, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Scientists and regulators, cities around the world and international bodies, have recognized the need for a broad set of tools to achieve the goal of zero net greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors of the economy. To meet these targets by mid-century, the world's economies will need to rapidly increase energy supplies so that they can produce and transport renewable gases at low cost and in a safe, reliable way.
Yes, there will be more renewable and decarbonized electricity. But much more attention is being paid these days to renewable, lower-emission gases (such as biomethane produced by decomposing organic waste) and green hydrogen (hydrogen produced by electrolysis from a renewable source). It will be necessary to make renewable energy available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and to supply industries that cannot be electrified. For example, the European Commission has set a target of 35 billion cubic meters in annual biomethane production and 20 million tonnes in consumption of renewable, low-carbon hydrogen by 2030 as part of its "REPowerEU" plan.
Make no mistake: the energy transition requires a reliable, flexible and resilient infrastructure, as well as the ability to leverage and reuse our existing energy infrastructure and know-how to make our current systems work seamlessly with new technologies. It requires a skilled workforce, as well as collaboration and planning between governments, residents, environmental groups, businesses and key sectors of our economy, such as manufacturers, power generators and transmission providers.
Leveraging the size and scale of the existing infrastructure, expertise and industry is key to accelerating the transition to a low-carbon energy system.
Today, numerous projects around the world are demonstrating that existing natural gas infrastructure - and the skilled workforce that builds, operates and maintains it - can also safely supply cleaner molecules such as renewable gas or renewable hydrogen.
Whether it's the leaders of our countries or local decision-makers worried about how best to balance our needs for energy supply security and decarbonization, the consequences are clear:
It will take continued investment in energy infrastructure and in our energy workers, as well as integrated planning to offer the most affordable, resilient and technologically proven path to total carbon neutrality.
In the absence of diversified decarbonization options, any unilateral path risks missing our mid-century decarbonization targets, compromising energy reliability and exposing millions of energy consumers to high and unpredictable utility costs.
In the long term, leveraging our existing infrastructure systems and decades of expertise can make the transition to a decarbonized energy system by mid-century easier and more affordable for our customers, rather than starting from scratch.
In Europe, for example, more than a dozen companies working together as part of the Hydrogen Backbone Initiative have demonstrated that 70% of the infrastructure needed to transport green, renewable hydrogen to European Union hubs could be developed by redirecting existing infrastructure.
According to the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), France has demonstrated the potential for 100% renewable gas by 2050, and can achieve at least 20% gas consumption by 2030.
In the United States, the federal government has introduced incentives for hydrogen and clean fuel cells to reduce production costs and accelerate the adoption of these clean fuels. The federal government is also investing billions of dollars to develop regional hydrogen and carbon management centers across the country.
Last year, regulators made California the first state in the country to adopt a Renewable Gas Standard, requiring utilities to replace at least 12% of the conventional gas they deliver to their major customers with renewable gas by 2030.
