Last week, leading figures from across the gas industry squeezed into a packed House of Commons Terrace Pavilion for this year’s Winter Warmer reception.
Hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies (PGES) and sponsored by FEN, this key date in the gas calendar brings together industry leaders, academics and parliamentarians at a time when demand for gas is at its highest.
We were very fortunate to have two parliamentarians speak at the event, PGES Chair, Josh Newbury MP, and our keynote speaker, Environmental Audit Committee Chair, Toby Perkins MP. Toby spoke eruditely about the climate challenge facing the UK, the approach the Labour Government is taking and the role gas networks can play in contributing to the transition to net zero.
In a particularly compelling part of his speech, Toby explained how ambitious climate targets “do not in any way undermine the clear acceptance that not only will gas play a role in the short term, keeping the lights on as renewable forms of energy continue to grow. But also in the longer term, even the Climate Change Committee has recognised that there is a role for clean gases like hydrogen and biomethane beyond 2050.”
It was fantastic to have the opportunity to introduce FEN as well as to outline how our gas networks help to deliver energy security and the important role that this world leading infrastructure should play well into the future.
The present and future function of our gas networks is the question investigated in a new report launched at the reception. Produced for FEN by Frontier Economics, ‘Accelerating Progress Towards 2030s Carbon Budgets’ explains how gas networks stand ready to accelerate the journey to net zero.
With the industry focused on Clean Power 2030, it’s important that we don’t forget what needs to come after that. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has been clear that we risk missing our carbon budgets in the 2030s, with only a quarter of the emissions reductions needed to meet Carbon Budget 6 covered by credible plans for delivery.
Frontier Economics’ report sets out a series of realistic and deliverable measures which could help cut this carbon budget deficit in buildings and industry by a quarter in 2035 - a figure of 11 MtCO2e/year in 2035, with an additional 2 MtCO2e/year savings from the power sector.
Specifically, the report calls for policy and regulatory backing in order to:
- Deliver a significant increase in biomethane injection (based on a linear trajectory to over 100TWh by 2050), develop low carbon hydrogen for industry and power and enable hydrogen blending to help scale the hydrogen market. These measures would collectively save over 9 MtCO2e/year.
- Implement further measures to support with managing network emissions, including the utilisation of advanced leak detection, leading to a reduction of 0.5 MtCO2e/year.
- Install 940,000 gas hybrid pumps and use gas as a backup to enable an increase in district heating by one million connections, saving 3.1 MtCO2e/year.
Thank you to everyone who attended this year’s Winter Warmer event. We’re already looking forward to next year!