German Report Urges Role for Gas in 2050 Goal
Germany's energy agency Dena has urged the government to specify its climate target for 2050, because it may be frustrated if only a 2030 target is published. Dena also said that a mix of technologies – including natural gas, synthetic gas, and biomethane – is best for achieving the goal.
The report ‘Integrierte Energiewende’ [an integrated energy transition], published June 4, says the federal government should specify its climate target for the year 2050 in this legislative period, as a target corridor of 80% to 95% fewer CO2 emissions by 2050, versus 1990, is achievable.
It argues strongly in favour of using a mix of technologies – rather than just electrification – saying that such a mix will be more robust and lead to lower additional costs. Such a tech mix would include more use of synthetic gas and liquids produced using renewable energy sources, it adds.
"A cross-sector, systemic view of possible transformation paths leads to results other than a sector-specific one. This must be taken into account in the orientation of the energy and climate protection policy. The Dena study is a good basis for this ," said Dena CEO Andreas Kuhlmann.
German gas lobby Zukunft Erdgas [future gas] welcomed the report. Its CEO Timm Kehler said: "Without competition in the market, the energy turnaround is doomed to failure, because society will not accept the significantly higher costs of a full electrification without additional benefits. Only with gas will energy transition succeed.” In particular, it welcomed the Dena report’s argument that existing gas infrastructure should remain in use, as it can react flexibly and with high peakload to the unsteady feed-in of the renewables – and be increasingly used for the supply of synthetic gas and biomethane.
Germany’s gas grid owners' association FNB published a study in October 2017 claiming that such optimised use of the country’s existing gas grid could save €12bn ($14bn)/year by 2050.
Dena's study now claims a technology-mix approach to achieving a 2050 climate target could save up to €600bn ($700bn) overall, when compared to one more heavily reliant on electricity-based applications.
The full Dena report is available here. Dena is 50%-owned by the German federal government, 26% by state development bank KfW, and Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, and insurer Allianz hold 8% each.