Power to Gas Linking Electricity and Gas in a Decarbonising World

Since the COP 21 meeting in Paris in December 2015, there has been a growing realisation that with the long-term objective that the energy system should be approaching carbon-neutrality by 2050, continuing to burn significant quantities of fossil-derived natural gas will not be sustainable. If existing natural gas infrastructure is to avoid becoming stranded assets, plans to decarbonise the gas system need to be developed as a matter of urgency in the next three to five years, given the typical life expectancy of such assets of 20 years or more. One of the options to decarbonise gas is “power-to-gas”: production of hydrogen or renewable methane via electrolysis, using surplus renewable electricity. This Energy Insight reviews the status of power-to-gas and makes an assessment of potential future development pathways and the role which it could play in decarbonising the energy system.

Link to document on the OIES website