Just a few years ago, gas was considered a solution of choice in the fight against climate change: an inexpensive energy that could support the integration of intermittent renewable energies. Although it is a fossil fuel, say its proponents, the gas emits far less greenhouse gases (GHGs) than coal and oil, and can be used for electricity generation and heating.
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But this attribute is increasingly strongly contested, especially in rich countries. The place of gas in the global energy mix is also likely to be hotly debated during the Conference of the Parties (COP27), which opened on Sunday in Egypt and which will continue until November 18.
Gases and climate change
The reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are increasingly worrying, and highlight the need for faster action to decarbonize the global economy by 2050. These alarming reports on irreversible impacts of climate change have called into question the role of gas as a transition energy.
This comes mainly from methane, which is the dominant component of fossil gas. Methane is more powerful than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere, and thus contributes significantly to rising temperatures.
In Quebec, for example, the Association of Environmental Energy Organizations (ROEÉ) fights fiercely for the banning of gas, particularly in new constructions, but also as a backup source for peak electricity consumption in winter. The organization is of the opinion that more economical and more durable solutions exist, such as thermal storage. Privileged by Africa despite the proliferation of calls for measures discouraging the use of gas, the latter has not said its last word, especially in developing countries.
Africa, the continent that will host COP27, also intends to rely on this source of fossil energy in order to boost its economy. It has even become a rallying cry on the continent.
Many African states face serious energy access gaps. The continent has 600 million citizens without electricity and its one billion inhabitants emit only 3% of global GHGs.
Its population is expected to double by 2050. Africa’s leaders, including its flagship institution, the African Development Bank, are therefore betting big on gas to provide reliable power to everyone, citizens and industries alike. .
It must be said that several African countries have discovered large gas deposits. The continent has in fact accounted for 40% of global gas discoveries over the past decade.
A transition with variable geometry
This exploitable potential, discouraged not long ago by European leaders because of its effects on the climate, has nevertheless been the object, since the war in Ukraine, of a clear interest from these same leaders. These are seeking to replace at all costs the gas coming from Russia, which has reduced its deliveries to Europe by more than 80% compared to 2021.
The political and energy leaders of European countries heavily dependent on Russian gas, including Germany, Italy and Poland, have increased visits to Africa in recent months to inquire about the possibility of future supply contracts.
African leaders are not without finding this reversal of Europe ironic. They now hope that this new deal will finally unlock the necessary funding for the development of gas infrastructure, in order to meet Europe’s needs, but also to meet their national needs.
Fighted by some, favored by others, gas has become a symbol of what the energy transition will be like on a global scale: variable according to countries, regions and continents, but also fickle, unpredictable, even chaotic. It will not fail to generate its share of tensions.