Page 32 - Gi September2020

BUILDING A BRIDGE

TO THE FUTURE

WHY WE CANNOT ABANDON GAS IN THE GRID

Steve Scrimshaw, CEO at Siemens Energy UK & Ireland, generation started during the start of the
explains why careful use of natural gas is necessary on the Industrial Revolution in 1882.
The reduction of coal is a
pathway to net zero, and why clean gases such as hydrogen significant milestone on the path
have a role to play in the energy transition to decarbonisation. However, it’s

important to remember that we are
ith the UK government’s net substantial movement towards the only able to continue generating the
zero targets firmly front of decarbonisation of the electricity grid. levels of electricity needed to power the
mind for the energy industry, In fact, carbon intensity of the UK’s UK without coal because natural gas is
it is likely that the country’s power supply is at an all-time low, there as a backup.
W oil and gas sector will see having reached the milestone of no Natural gas has a reputation problem
a see a seismic shift and new ways of coal-fired power plants used to generate because it is, in essence, a fossil fuel. But
working as fossil fuels are phased out in UK electricity for two full months up to it’s a much cleaner, more efficient and
the move to be carbon neutral. June 2020. Incredibly, this is the first less carbon-emitting fossil fuel than coal.
This year, we have already seen time that has happened since coal power We cannot ignore the fact that gas is still

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