gas for energy IGRC 2014 (Vorschau)

EDITORIAL
Dear Readers,
Technological innovation is the lifeblood of the energy industry.
Continuing commercial pressures following the global
economic downturn coupled with the imperative of meeting
rigorous environmental standards mean that all fuels, including
all forms of natural gas, need to develop new technologies and
push the bounds of best practice. Energy prices are a serious
issue for the viability of industrial and commercial projects,
affordability for residential customers, the fuel choice for power
generators, the next phase of low emission transportation
vehicles and other energy uses. In these days of pressure on
fuel costs, an efficiency improvement of a few percent or the
reduction of emissions can make the difference between economic
failure and commercial success.
The whole gas chain is involved in this process, and sufficient
R&D funding is needed from ‘drill bit to burner tip’ to keep gas
technologies and industry best practices at the forefront of a
highly competitive energy market. In addition, more demanding
social and regulatory requirements have increased the challenges
on market participants throughout the gas industry.
Conventional natural gas is the backbone of the gas business
and I expect that on a global basis it will remain so for many
years to come. In several national situations or local applications
however, unconventional natural gas from tight or shale
rock formation, methane from coal beds or even gas produced
as a biofuel can become a significant energy source and in
some local cases the dominant fuel. There are both similarities
and differences in the technologies that we need as the gas
family expands to embrace these new relatives.
Gas innovations are already inspiring the development and
implementation of a wide range of clean energy applications.
For the International Gas Union, sharing information on best
practices and encouraging technology transfer are important
objectives. The gas industry has already developed a wide
range of well-proven technology that provides efficient
energy solutions that would deliver significant economic and
environmental benefits if widely applied throughout the
world. But even as the least polluting fossil fuel gas cannot be
complacent about its position in the energy mix. The economic
challenge is ever present and it is only by investing in
efficiently focussed Research, Development and Technology
Application that the gas industry will enhance its position in
the future as a perfect partner of a wide range of renewable
energy sources and a sustainable part of the global energy
solution.
I would commend to you both this publication and the IGRC in
Copenhagen. These exemplify the exciting prospects for natural
gas as the industry takes clean energy innovation to new
heights. There are many challenges ahead to ensure that technology
is developed and knowledge transfer can take place
throughout the world. With sufficient investment now I believe
that natural gas, and indeed the whole gas industry, will be
well placed and ready for the decades to come.
Yours sincerely,
The energy business is dynamic and increasingly gas is an information
business. Vast amounts of data are gathered and processed
in finding and exploiting new sources of gas supply, in
transporting and trading gas to optimise deliveries to customers
and in enabling consumers themselves to have access to
smart meter technology, social information systems and
increasingly rapid customer switching processes.
Torstein Indrebø
Secretary General
International Gas Union