The continuing role of gas as the natural companion to renewable energy
Martin Wilkes A *A RISC Advisory, 1138 Hay Street, West Perth, WA, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 62 S95-S98 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21037
Accepted: 29 March 2022 Published: 13 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
Four years ago I gave a presentation entitled ‘Repositioning Gas in the Energy Mix’, where we outlined the need to continue to invest in natural gas in order to enable the penetration of renewable energy into the market. In that presentation we highlighted the danger of the ‘green, cheap squeeze’ on gas; squeezed by cleaner renewables on the one hand, and cheaper coal on the other, and proposed changing the messaging away from seeing gas as a transition fuel to acknowledging the longer-term enabling role gas would have to play in the energy mix. Since then several countries have managed to achieve significant reductions in emissions due to power generation, and we now have evidence that supports the continuing role of natural gas in the energy mix. This presentation will review the progress made in emissions’ reductions over the past few years, examining the key issues and confirming the impact that increasing amounts of renewable energy has on existing power generation and supply systems. We will also examine and provide insights into the issues requirements for further reductions in emission levels.
Keywords: batteries, emissions’ reduction, hydrogen, natural gas, nuclear, pumped hydro, pumped hydroelectricity, renewable energy, renewables, VRE.
Martin Wilkes is the Managing Director of RISC, an independent International Energy Advisory Company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. Martin is a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Environmentalist. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN). He has a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK. Martin has worked in the energy industry for over 30 years, holding a range of international positions including project development, business leadership and planning, corporate governance, and technical training. Since joining RISC in 2010 he has provided advice to clients on hundreds of projects, including over 30% of the world’s LNG projects, and several multi-billion-dollar transactions. |
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Wilkes M (2018) Repositioning gas in the power generation mix. The APPEA Journal 58, 647–650.
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