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Natural gas is 50% cleaner on emissions than coal. The IGU says societies tend to decarbonise as they evolve, progress.

 

Strict emission standards, an enabling regulatory framework, and a high price on carbon are some of the key ways India can boost its natural gas sector, according to the International Gas Union, a non-profit organisation comprising natural gas majors from around the world.

 

“There is a role for the government in enabling the right regulatory regime to allow the construction of the pipelines that transport gas from where it is produced to where the markets are,” David Carroll, President of the International Gas Union (IGU) told The Hindu in an interview. “In addition, the regulation must also allow third-party access in the way one does with power lines or telecom lines to ensure that buyers, sellers and transporters can ensure that the product can move freely without undue barriers.”

 

The more than 140 members of the IGU are associations and corporations of the gas industry representing more than 95 per cent of the global gas market, and they work together to help countries, such as India, move towards a higher share of natural gas in their energy mix.

 

 

 

“Another important area to work on is emission standards,” Menelaos Ydreos, Executive Director of Public Affairs at IGU added during the interview. “Be stricter on those so you have to innovate to meet those standards. If coal can innovate to meet them, then more power to them. To the extent that gas can innovate, more power to gas.

 

“But that way you are not picking a winner or loser. You are letting the market respond to the requirements. However, the most efficient instrument is to put a price on carbon.”

 

“Gas is 50 per cent cleaner than coal on carbon emissions, significantly cleaner on sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides, and has virtually non-existent PM 2.5 emissions, which is the big issue with respect to air quality,” Mr. Ydreos added. “And this holds whether you burn imported gas or domestically produced gas.”

SOurce: The Hindu