Why natural gas is key in supporting more and cleaner energy

Natural gas is playing a greater role in the energy transition. Private and public sectors in various regions have increasingly utilised natural gas to meet their goals of environmental sustainability and energy security.

Natural gas offers many advantages. It is the cleanest-burning hydrocarbon and, assuming operational best-practices, can play a key role across the global economy by acting as a partner with renewable sources to offer consumers reliable, flexible and cost-effective energy access.

1. Cleanest-burning hydrocarbon

Gas is the cleanest-burning hydrocarbon and produces a fraction of the air pollution that coal does when used to generate electricity. Burning natural gas releases virtually none of the particulate matter that contributes to ground-level smog.

In China, coal to natural gas switching has led to a 78% improvement in Beijing’s winter air quality over the past five years (PDF, 4 MB)

. China imports of natural gas in the form of LNG have risen significantly in recent years, expanding this success into other regions.

Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from operations can lead to better environmental outcomes and support a more sustainable energy future. Many organisations across industries are focused on reducing emissions, and natural gas can provide an option for energy producers to meet their emissions targets.

2. An affordable source for electricity generation

In the U.S. market, natural gas is one of the cheapest sources of electrical power, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2020. The report finds that natural gas and renewables are the primary sources of new electricity generation capacity through 2050 in the U.S., due to low natural gas prices and favorable costs for renewables.¹

3. A source of blue hydrogen

Natural gas can be converted to clean-burning blue hydrogen using the Shell Blue Hydrogen Process. The CO₂ that is produced in the process is captured and stored underground while the hydrogen can be used for heating, transportation or industrial purposes with no CO₂ emissions.

Blue hydrogen production is needed while research is conducted to reduce the cost of more expensive green hydrogen production technologies, which produces hydrogen using renewable electricity sources such as solar or wind. Natural gas can be used as a transition fuel while cleaner alternatives continue to be developed and competitively commercialised.

4. A reliable source of energy in the short term

As renewable energy technologies like wind and solar continue to develop and improve, natural gas offers a cleaner and more affordable short-term solution to energy creation compared to coal. Not only do gas-fired power plants emit less pollutants than coal-fired power plants, but they can be faster and more efficient.²

Electricity generated from natural gas is not subject to fluctuation based on environmental factors like wind or sunlight availability. When there are dips in wind or solar power, a diverse mix of energy resources that includes natural gas can help to maintain a steady supply of electricity.

5. Widely available due to drilling and transport technology innovations

In addition to advances in drilling technology that are unlocking more natural gas resources, new transport technology is allowing natural gas to be liquefied at ultra-low temperatures and shipped in specially designed tankers. Shell has been a pioneer in liquefied natural gas (LNG) for more than 50 years, and continues to innovate and improve the technology behind LNG.

Learn more about Shell Catalysts & Technologies’ LNG expertise

Although gas emits much less CO₂ than coal when burned for electricity, this environmental benefit is reduced if high levels of methane are emitted. The gas industry must make its operations more efficient in order to limit leaks of methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas.

In line with Shell Catalysts & Technologies’ mission to Make Every Molecule Matter, Shell has taken various steps to achieve this, including being a founding member of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, a voluntary partnership of interdisciplinary organisations committed to improving air quality and protecting the climate through actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants.³

Shell has also set a target to keep methane emissions intensity (PDF, 590 kB)

, for both oil and gas, to below 0.2% by 2025. This target covers all Shell-operated upstream and integrated oil and gas facilities.

Shell Catalysts & Technologies is evaluating technologies and practices to address unintended and vented methane emissions in our operations. We work continuously to improve these methods in line with our mission to Make Every Molecule Matter.

For more information regarding Shell’s ongoing work to reduce emissions of methane, read the Managing Methane Emissions

 section of our latest Sustainability Report.

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¹ _{www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/}

² _{https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032117309206}

³ _{https://ccacoalition.org/en/content/who-we-are}