Message from the President

Dear readers, welcome to the LNG2023 special issue of the Global Voice of Gas.

It has been amazing to see the rapid pace of change in the world over the past few years and the incredible agility with which the world has been adjusting to it. The gas industry has been at the forefront of agility in the energy sector, and LNG has played a crucial role to supply the life-saving flexibility to the global energy system, especially over the last 24 months.

One definitively positive change is that we are now firmly back in the face-to-face environment, and I am so glad to join colleagues from the CGA, GTI, and IIR in the warm welcome to Vancouver this July, as we are finally reaching the finish line of the amazing journey to LNG2023 in Canada.

I share the LNG2023 Executive Director’s view that this is an opportunity not just to shape the future of LNG and gas, but also to make a meaningful contribution to the future of energy and the planet. The timing for the biggest international meeting of the global LNG leaders and stakeholders could not be more critical.

Liquefied natural gas has already demonstrated its value as a vital fuel for energy security, and the demand for this security value of LNG will be strong, especially over the coming three-to-five years. The industry stands ready to deliver, and it is going to continue to respond to the signals from policy and the consumers to effectively plan supply, transport, and utilisation capabilities. Our gas industry is also strongly committed to continue upholding its value as an energy transition enabler, investing in decarbonisation technologies to reduce their costs and to look for innovation opportunities, both technical and commercial, to make decarbonisation good for the environment and for business.

Here again supportive policy will be crucial, as the technologies in earlier stages of development still require significant de-risking and scaling capital. This can include new electrification technologies, integration of greater shares of renewables, carbon capture and storage, conversion to renewable fuels like hydrogen, and others. As an industry of engineers, we are confident in the abundance of opportunities. I therefore would like to encourage policymakers and investors to focus on the emissions reductions opportunities, with the largest achievable impact on emissions and avoid ideological debates, which only slow us all down. With fossil fuels still meeting 80% of the world’s growing energy demand, with coal and oil being the biggest, decarbonisation strategies that prohibit investment in natural gas are going to be of questionable effectiveness, since gas provides an immediate opportunity to cut emissions by up to half when replacing coal, and by a third when replacing oil. Natural gas is also more cost-effectively decarbonisable, including through the substitute with renewable biomethane and introduction of hydrogen into the gas networks. Replacing coal and oil with gas still presents some of the largest immediate emissions reduction opportunities available.

The gas industry will continue to drive toward decarbonisation, and we will continue to call for a joint effort to focus on the one common goal of a healthy planet and a sustainable energy future for all.

Features

Li Yalan, IGU President