Eurogas, an organisation representing the European gas sector, published a new study on Tuesday 30 June presenting a scenario for achieving zero net CO2 emissions in the European energy sector by 2050 by relying on the gas sector and the supply of energy through existing networks.
Conceived by the consultancy firm DNV GLat the request of Eurogas, this scenario calls for 32% of European final energy demand to be met by gas supply by 2050.
In order to decarbonise gas, the authors of the study foresee a significant role for hydrogen, the use of biomass, second generation biomethane technologies, and the deployment of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technologies.
In this scenario, hydrogen production by methane reforming coupled with CCS technologies (blue hydrogen) would provide the bulk of hydrogen demand in the medium term - pending a reduction in the cost of hydrogen production via electrolysis (green hydrogen) - reaching 820 terawatt hours (TWh) of supply in 2050.
The capacity of CCS technologies is expected to reach 1,048 million tonnes of sequestered CO2 per year in 2050.
In terms of costs, the study estimates that this scenario would save 4,100 billion euros compared to the European Commission’s cost forecast for the ‘1.5TECH’ scenario, the seventh of the eight scenarios described in its 2050 strategy presented in November 2018 (see EUROPE 12148/1).
See the study: https://bit.ly/2VuW5Pt (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)