Natural gas is a key complement to a clean energy future
Natural gas has an important role to play in the transition to a lowercarbon economy.
That’s the finding of the INGAA Foundation, which recently undertook a study to examine this issue, focusing on a 20-year horizon—2020 to 2040. Key takeaways include:
“While renewables will continue to gain market share as technologies evolve, you must keep in mind that renewables primarily produce electricity,” Don Santa, president and CEO of INGAA, told American Gas. “For example, renewables are not a substitute for natural gas in the manufacturing process. Just about every product we use or consume daily is touched by natural gas. The phone or computer folks are using to read this article or the paper and ink that make the magazine—all are made possible by natural gas.”
Still, even as renewables continue to make up a greater share of electricity production, Santa doesn’t see natural gas’s role in that realm going away in the near future. “Natural gas and renewables are complementary and can work together to achieve a low-carbon economy,” he said. “When renewable resources are unavailable, gas-fired generators can ramp up quickly to compensate. Affordable natural gas helps reduce the cost of integrating variable renewables into the grid by providing an economical ‘backstop.’ Without natural gas, the widespread adoption of renewables would be slower and more expensive.”
Natural gas has long been considered a bridge between a fossil-fuel-heavy energy portfolio to a future based almost entirely on renewables. But as a reliable, inexpensive and relatively clean source of fuel, it is likely to have a much more lasting role to play in the future of the energy industry as a complement—and not just a bridge—to renewable energy, say experts.