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Contributing to global climate goals: How can the gas infrastructure sector develop low-carbon and renewable solutions?

16-02-2021

 Contributing to global climate goals: How can the gas infrastructure sector develop low-carbon and renewable solutions?

WATCH THE RECORDING HERE



According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), developing renewable gases is essential to advancing energy sector decarbonisation. The European Commission states in its Energy System Integration, Hydrogen and Methane emission reduction strategies that renewable gas will be critical for the transformation of the energy system.

In the effort to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, gas infrastructure seeks to transport decreasing quantities of natural gas, making way for increasing quantities of renewable and decarbonised gases produced at the local level. Several viable solutions, in various stages of commercialisation, to facilitate renewable gases production and injection into gas networks exist today.

Existing gas infrastructure brings essential flexibility and supply security for energy systems. By design, they are flexible and provide a cost-effective and reliable way to store renewable energy for long periods of time and dispatch it to meet peak demand.

Renewable gases can decarbonise all types of uses: manufacturing, industrial process and long-haul applications for freight, marine and aviation. Therefore, developing those fuels, such as biomethane and hydrogen, is seen as important to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. And this is why countries are increasingly establishing binding targets of renewable gas production and procurement. France and Québec have set a target of injecting 10% of renewable gases into the natural gas system by 2030.

EURACTIV invites you to this virtual conference where four gas infrastructure companies CEOs from California, Québec and France will discuss the future role of gas infrastructure in a fast-decarbonising world, followed by an exchange of views on how renewable gas and gas grids can offer key solutions for the energy sector, the environment and the global economy on the road to 2050. This transatlantic debate will allow us to hear experiences from different continents about the development of renewable gases as a decarbonisation tool. Questions will include:

- How can we make best use of existing gas infrastructure to reach net-zero emissions by 2050?
- What are the opportunities and challenges to scale up renewable gases?
- How can a global approach in energy system planning be achieved by leveraging existing gas grids with sector coupling solutions?
- Can renewable gas be the optimal complementary energy technology to balance intermittent renewable electricity such as wind and solar in the coming decades?
- How to accelerate the integration of conventional gas and renewable gas in road, rail and marine transportation and support the deployment of low-carbon infrastructure, such as recharging points?
- What can we learn from the experiences in California, Québec and France ?

WATCH THE RECORDING HERE

Supported by:

GRDF

Location

Online

Panellists

CEO PANEL


Catherine Leboul-Proust, Strategy Director, GRDF
Pierre Duvieusart, Deputy CEO, GRTgaz
Éric Lachance, President and CEO of Énergir
Maryam Brown, President of SoCalGas

POLICY PANEL


Catharina Sikow-Magny, Director, Green Transition and
Energy System Integration, DG Energy, European Commission
Nicolás Gonzáles Casares MEP, Member ITRE Committee, European Parliament
Sam Ayoub, President, Canada-Europe Economic Chamber-EU
Stijn Carton, Project Manager Energy Systems, European Climate Foundation
Pierre Duvieusart, Deputy CEO, GRTgaz

Moderator

Frédéric Simon, Energy Editor, EURACTIV

Schedule

CEO PANEL PROGRAMME


16:30 – 16:35 Welcome
16:35 – 16:45 Panellist statements
16:45 – 17:15 Discussion and Q&A

POLICY PANEL PROGRAMME


17:20 – 17:30 Panellist statements
17:30 – 18:00 Discussion and Q&A
18:00 – 18:05 Closing statements

Contact

Simona Ovesea
simona.ovesea@euractiv.com
+32 (0)2 788 36 86

Related article

Global gas firms target industrial ‘clusters’ for first hydrogen clients

Global gas firms target industrial ‘clusters’ for first hydrogen clients

Gas companies in Europe and America are looking at using the existing gas network to serve industrial “clusters” of hydrogen users in sectors like chemicals, cement and steelmaking, adopting a “phased approach” endorsed by the European Commission.