Meeting up with the gas puzzlers: the new technologies enhancing the potential of natural gas

Natural gas is increasingly the hydrocarbon fuel of choice in an ever-wider range of applications. It replaced coal as the main domestic fuel decades ago, even indirectly: cookers fuelled by coal-derived ‘town gas’ were converted to natural gas between 1967 and 1977. Electricity generation using natural gas increased in the 1980s and 1990s as the fuel displaced coal. Shipping is increasingly fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of the heavy oils that dominated the marine fuel market for many years, and LNG is an increasingly popular fuel for commercial vehicles and buses (although it still has a long way to go to displace diesel). It requires engines to be converted and is not available as widely as petrol or diesel, so its take-up in personal car transport has been slow to grow.

The reasons for its popularity are mainly environmental. When it’s burned, methane releases less carbon dioxide per unit of energy than any other hydrocarbon. So, although it does still contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, switching from more carbon-intense fuels to natural gas is often an easy way to reduce emissions without too much trouble. The gains are particularly large when the fuel being replaced is coal, which releases the largest amount of CO2 per joule, 10 times as much as methane; this is why the UK government is particularly keen to phase out coal-fired power stations and replace lost capacity with gas as fast as possible. Energy secretary Amber Rudd announced last year that the coal phase-out would be complete within a decade, with the cut-off point in 2025.