Table 1 Sample of studies reviewed [8, 12,13,14,15,16, 34, 44, 52, 54, 63, 72]
Title | Author | Year | Geographic scope | Sector(s) covered | Main conclusions | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gas for Climate — How gas can help to achieve the Paris Agreement in an affordable way | van Melle, et al. | 2018 | EU | Buildings, electricity, industry, heavy duty transport | - Renewable gas production capacity in the EU can reach a significant level by 2050. - A future energy system including renewable gas shows substantial cost savings compared to a system without renewable gas. | [12] |
Decarbonization Pathways | Eurelectric | 2018 | EU | Buildings, electricity, industry, transport | - A future energy system characterized by strong direct electrification (up to 60% of total demand), energy efficiency and further non-emitting allows to reach 95% GHGE by 2050. - Despite a limited role of biomethane, particularly synthetic renewable gas plays a significant role (indirect electrification). | [34] |
A 100% renewable gas mix in 2050? | Bouré et al. | 2018 | France | Buildings, industry, transport | - Renewable gas (combination of biomethane and synthetic methane) could fully reduce natural gas by 2050. - The projected production costs for renewable gas are comparable to those for renewable electricity generation within a 100% renewable electricity scenario. | [13] |
Energiemarkt 2030 und 2050—Der Beitrag von Gas- und Wärmeinfrastruktur zu einer effizienten CO2-Minderung (Energy market 2030 and 2050—The contribution of gas an heat infrastructure to an efficient CO2 reduction; authors’ translation) | Hecking et al. | 2017 | Germany | Heat, electricity, industry, transport | - A future energy system which still comprises gas and heat infrastructure shows substantial cost savings compared to a system focused on electrification and allows adjusting to technological developments more flexibly. - A significant part of the renewable gas required for such an energy system design will be imported from outside the EU. | [14] |
Der Wert der Gasinfrastruktur für die Energiewende in Deutschland—Eine modellbasierte Analyze (The value of German gas infrastructure — A model-based analysis; authors’ translation) | Bothe et al. | 2017 | Germany | Buildings, industry, transport | - A future energy system with volatile renewables as predominant energy source relies heavily on gas storage to balance supply and demand. - The additional use of the gas infrastructure to transport renewable energy in gaseous form to end-users shows major benefits and cost savings compared to an electricity-focused system. | [15] |
Green Gas Potential in ONTRAS Network Area | nymoen|strategieberatung | 2017 | Germany (regional) | Buildings, electricity, industry, transport | - A future energy system design strongly based on synthetic methane produced from wind energy via power-to-gas shows costs similar to a system design oriented toward electrification. - Beyond that, the gas-based design scenario shows various cost upsides and qualitative benefits. | [44] |
Riesiges Potential an grünem Gas (Huge potential of green gas; authors’ translation) | Papp et al. | 2017 | Austria | Buildings | - Renewable gas production capacity in Austria (predominantly for biomethane) can be expanded to a level that allows complete substitution of natural gas in the residential sector by 2050. - This avoids stranding of gas assets and ensures end-user gas prices that remain competitive with alternative heating technologies while being fully climate-neutral. | [8] |
Kalte Dunkelflaute — Robustheit des Stromsystems bei Extremwetter (Dark doldrum — Robustness of the electricity system during extreme weather; authors’ translation) | Huneke et al. | 2017 | Germany | Electricity | - Gas storage can be combined with power-to-gas to provide an energy system with high security of supply even in extreme situations, while the costs for society would remain adequate. | [72] |
Klimaschutz durch Sektorkopplung - Optionen, Szenarien, Kosten (Climate protection trough sector coupling — Options, scenarios, costs; authors’ translation) | Ecke et al. | 2017 | Germany | Heat, electricity | - The transition to a future energy system should take a technology-neutral approach to limit lock-in effects. - The gas sector has the potential to contribute as a major flexibility source and to enable cost savings compared to an energy system design without renewable gas and gas infrastructure. | [63] |
Erneuerbare Gase — Ein Systemupdate der Energiewende (Renewable gases — updating energy transition; authors’ translation) | Klein et al. | 2017 | Germany | Heat, industry, feedstock, transport, electricity | - The achievement of the 2050 climate targets is only possible with a future energy system design that includes the gas infrastructure and a significant level of renewable gas. - This will also realize substantial cost savings compared to a scenario without a significant role of the gas sector. | [16] |
The Green Hydrogen Economy in the Northern Netherlands | van Wijk | 2017 | Netherlands(regional) | Industry, feedstock, transport | - The currently widely natural gas based large-scale chemical industry cluster in the Northern Netherlands shall be transformed to a hydrogen economy by around 2030. - This is based on a massive development of especially wind and power-to-gas capacity and retrofitting natural gas pipelines to transport pure hydrogen. | [52] |
H21 — Leeds City Gate | Sadler et al. | 2016 | UK (regional) | Heat, industry | - The gas distribution system in the city area of Leeds (approx. 6 TWh annual consumption) shall be converted to 100% hydrogen over a three-year period. - Hydrogen is produced through traditional steam methane reforming of natural gas delivered as usual through the transmission system. - The carbon dioxide is sequestrated deep under the North Sea. | [54] |