Natural Gas Is Vital to the Energy Grid

July 26, 2021

Natural gas demand is growing and is set to continue to grow in the years ahead. The U.S. Department of Energy forecasts a 40%-45% jump in global gas consumption by 2050.

As countries seek to meet climate change goals, any serious low-carbon outlook has gas as a foundation to the energy mix. Even after more than a decade of achievements for renewables, fossil fuels still are supplying 83% of all global energy in 2020.

Forbes reports:

Since natural gas is hardly going away (gas is even crucial for renewables development since it provides the backup power for their natural intermittency), the goal becomes to lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) as much as possible.

One of the biggest misconceptions is the simplistic assumption that wind and solar power (and electric cars for transport) will soon inevitably come to dominate the energy race. But we know why this can’t be true: wind and solar only compete in the power sector, which accounts for just 20-25% of the ways in which we humans consume energy.

In contrast, gas is our most versatile fuel: utilized in power, industry, heating, commercial, and transport applications. The constant evolution of the gas industry is exhibited by America’s shale revolution itself, taking off in 2008 when “fracking” technologies and horizontal drilling coalesced in a perfected union. U.S. production had surged by nearly 70% by 2019, allowing low-cost, low-carbon natural gas to dominate our energy system.

Renewables have proven unreliable and expensive. Natural gas is not only essential to the energy grid but through constant innovation has dramatically reduced methane emissions and actively continues to further slash them.

85% of the world, over 6.7 billion humans, is still developing. The large share of some 160 energy-deprived nations cannot afford to limit their options to more expensive, less reliable energy. The U.S., the world’s richest economy depends on 37% oil and 33% gas to provide 70% of the energy used in the country. Natural gas continues to have growing demand and further innovation to reduce emissions.

As Forbes concluded, “And make no mistake, the political pushback on climate-energy policies that increase the cost of energy while lowering its reliability is already starting to show, even in the rich nations where incremental energy needs are small and high-costs are more absorbable.” We at Power The Future, have continued to point to the fact that renewable energy is expensive and unreliable. When renewable energy sources fail it’s the natural gas industry that steps in to fill those gaps. Natural gas is a staple to our energy mix and isn’t going anywhere.