These days, everyone involved in discussions about the future of the energy system agrees that it is both desirable and feasible to make that system largely renewable by 2050, despite the diversity of the participants – oil majors, nuclear companies, companies active in renewable energy, experts such as the International Energy Agency (IEA), ministers of state for energy, and non-government organizations focused on environmental protection. Having myself participated in many such discussions over the past year (at Davos, CERA Week, etc.), I am struck by the growing consensus around this issue.
While everyone agrees on the destination, however, the route that leads there is far from clear.
The challenges are many, with no obvious solutions. To give just a few examples, how can we minimize the economic and social impact of the energy transition? How can we prevent existing infrastructures, and even those built during the early years of the transition, from becoming stranded assets for local governments and managers, at a significant cost to all of us? How can we overcome the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources?
Personally, I believe that the viability of the energy transition also depends on one essential source of energy: gas.
Natural gas today, green gas tomorrow. This belief is borne out by expert scenarios for the energy transition and the new strategies being adopted by the energy sector. As the Financial Times stated in an article entitled "
Big Oil bets on a dash for gas”, published in early September, “
Companies that once treated gas as the poor relation to ‘black gold’ are now gambling that the colourless commodity can help secure their future in a decarbonising world.”
This may seem surprising, since gas is still counted among the fossil fuels.
There are, however, several arguments suggesting that gas will be the keystone to the energy revolution. Today, that means natural gas is the best complement to intermittent renewable energy and the best substitute for polluting energy; and tomorrow, once we have the technology and have made it affordable, green gas will be a necessary prerequisite to a 100% renewable energy system. […]
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