BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 30. The role of natural gas as a potential transitional fuel is likely to diminish further, Trend reports with reference to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“CO2 emissions per unit of energy are about 40 percent lower for natural gas than for coal. Historically, energy experts had envisaged that natural gas could play a role in the energy transition by providing backstop to intermittent renewable energy sources. However, the last decade has increasingly found that emissions benefits of natural gas over coal are likely to be overstated due, for example, to the prevalence of methane leaks in natural gas extraction and distribution,” reads the latest IMF report.
Additionally, the report reveals that if the availability of natural gas diminishes or its price relative to other fuels remains high due to energy security concerns, there could be greater reliance on oil and potentially on coal in the short term, as well as greater incentives to invest in green energy over the medium term.
“Upgrading and building of LNG terminals and storage facilities could ease the substitution away from Russian natural gas. Higher demand for LNG in Europe may, however, have unintended consequences for global emissions as several large emerging economies depend heavily on LNG, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Indonesia. A persistent increase of LNG prices may result in blackouts and substitution to coal in these countries, which could set back global efforts to lower emissions,” IMF experts believe.
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