The Role of Natural Gas (Perspective from the 2016 World Energy Scenarios)

In October 2016, at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, the World Energy Council launched the report ‘World Energy Scenarios 2016: THE GRAND TRANSITION’ to present three exploratory scenarios to 2060—Modern Jazz, Unfinished Symphony, and Hard Rock. Developed in collaboration with Accenture Strategy, the Paul Scherrer Institute, and a network of more than 70 members, from over 25 countries, the report states that two sources of energy, renewables and natural gas, will play a key role in the GRAND TRANSITION.

In 2017, and with the support of the Global Gas Centre (GGC), the Council chose to analyse in greater detail the place of natural gas in these three scenarios. This World Energy Perspectives report on Natural Gas presents the key findings of this study.

It highlights the importance of natural gas to decarbonise the energy sector, particularly in the production of electricity. This analysis shows the extent of the differences between the three scenarios when it comes to the gas sector, identifies the key uncertainties affecting the role of gas and specifies the challenges faced by the gas industry.

The strength of these three exploratory scenarios is to provide users with a common language for thinking and talking about current events. They provide energy leaders with an open, transparent, and inclusive framework to think about a very uncertain future, and thus assist in the shaping of the choices they make, in this instance when it comes to the role of natural gas in our global energy mix.