The Russian invasion of Ukraine has placed the long-term role of natural gas at the center of the global public debate. The Energy Futures Initiative (EFI), a D.C.-based global energy policy think tank, has launched a comprehensive study of the Global Future of Natural Gas in a Low-Carbon World. Its aim is to analyse and inform policies, technologies, and pathways for the role natural gas will play in advancing the low-carbon energy transition.
EFI presented their most recent findings during a high-level workshop, organised by CSD on 14 June 2023 in Sofia. Key Bulgarian natural gas and energy security business leaders, NGO representatives and independent experts joint an in-depth discussion of how to optimize U.S. LNG supply chains in the context of improving European energy and climate security and aiding the long-term strategic decoupling from Russia.
Participants agreed that natural gas will not be phased out easily from all economic sectors as decarbonizing heat will be an enormous challenge. In addition, many industrial materials still depend heavily on the manufacturing of elements dependent on the use of natural gas. Industrial decarbonisation without natural gas would require a significant uptake of cutting-edge low-carbon innovations, whose deployment will depend on long-term financial and political commitment.
