No breakthrough technology for gas yet, says WWU

Wales and West Utilities (WWU) has warned that gas lacks a single solution or breakthrough technology to enable necessary decarbonisation to meet UK targets.

WWU’s head of regulation and commercial Steven Edwards said the company’s innovation project in Bridgend funded through the Low Carbon Networks Fund revealed that gas is actually one of the cheapest and least carbon-intensive options for heating the UK.

But gas will still need to be decarbonised if the UK is to meet the 80 per cent carbon reduction target by 2050 the government has committed to.

Edwards said gas currently lacks the necessary solutions for decarbonisation and further innovation will be key.

Edwards Said: “No single solution is out there to get us to 2050.”

“The Networks Innovation Allowance and Networks Innovation Competition (NIC) are key enablers we need to focus on as currently there aren’t those breakthrough technologies.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (Decc) had planned to gradually transition from gas heating to electric heating in order to lower carbon emissions, effectively making the gas networks redundant in the process.

Edwards said: “Some of the options being considered in the Decc pathways are probably not practical, would add to carbon and to cost and therefore we need something else.

“In terms of costs, gas and the current usage is actually quite efficient. The gas network has the affordability, the flexibility, and the storage capability to meet peak heat and energy requirements.

“Any future solution needs to have these attributes. But we are also well aware that different kinds of communities will require different kinds of solutions.”

Earlier this week the latest round of Ofgem’s NIC funding for innovation projects awarded a total of £62.8 million to networks, including £6 million for a commercial demonstration plant that will produce renewable low-carbon methane from household waste.