Given the increasing challenge of reaching emissions targets, energy infrastructure company Jemena is urging governments to embrace all available options and means to reduce emissions, to guarantee the worthy pursuit of decarbonisation is done in the most cost-effective way.

This includes, the company believes, pursuing the development of renewable gases such as biomethane (made from organic waste) and green hydrogen (made from renewable electricity);  sustainable energy sources, that are leading the evolution of gas across much of Europe, Asia, and North America.

According to a Frontier Economics report from 2020, carbon emissions could be reduced at half the cost to customers if renewable gases are developed and delivered to Australian homes and businesses using our existing gas network, rather than pursuing full electrification of our energy system.

“Utilisation of gas infrastructure to deliver energy also reduces emissions at half the cost to customers compared to electrifying the services provided by gas,’’ the report said, highlighting the importance of bioenergy in Australia’s pathway towards net zero.

Shaun Reardon, Executive General Manager of Jemena Networks, said the pursuit of electrification in homes, businesses, and industry should work in tandem with the introduction of renewable gases into the gas networks to help maintain energy choice for consumers.

“As we ramp up the pace of lowering emissions, it is an advantage to have an extensive gas network in Australia, not a burden. We have the infrastructure in place to aid the transition to net zero, by embracing renewable gases like biomethane and green hydrogen that will help to lower emissions in our gas networks,’’ he said.

“Given stubbornly high inflation, continued pressures on household bills and the cost of doing business, it is important to pursue decarbonisation pathways in the most cost-effective way for everyone.’’

This dual approach to emissions reduction is seeing immense gains in gas-reliant Europe, where rapid development and deployment of biomethane is putting EU nations on a fast-track to meeting emissions reduction targets.

Playing to its strengths, on a continent desperate to wean itself off Russian natural gas and deliver its own energy security, whilst reducing emissions.

There are almost 20,000 biogas and biomethane plants across Europe, helping to generate 3.5 billion cubic metres of renewable gas, and courtesy of the European Commission’s Biomethane Industrial Partnership with industry and gas users, annual production of the renewable gas is anticipated to increase 10-fold to 35 billion cubic metres by 2030.

While Germany has long led the renewable gas race, nations like France and Italy have rapidly scaled up their bioenergy infrastructure, with the former opening 149 biomethane plants last year alone, according to a European Biomethane Benchmark 2022 report by SIA Partners.

Italy has quickly emerged as the second largest biogas/biomethane market, with the vast majority of its biomethane production injected into existing gas pipelines. But it is Denmark that is leading the way in the transition from natural gas to renewable gas; it is already a quarter of the way to completely replacing natural gas with biomethane and intends to meet that ambition by 2034.

While Australia remains well behind its European peers, Mr Reardon said the potential of renewable gas was enormous, given our vast agricultural might and close proximity between access to the waste products that are central in the production of biomethane, and the nation’s extensive gas pipeline network.

“We just need the will of governments, to not only see what is occurring abroad in this space, but to build the policy framework here that would encourage investment, underpin development and incentivise uptake,’’ he said.  “To see gas infrastructure as part of the solution, and importantly give our manufacturers and industrial companies the ability to reduce their emissions, while maintaining their international competitiveness.”

With many Australian manufacturers and industrial companies likely to remain reliant on gas for the foreseeable future, given the high heat and firming processes required in their operations, it simply makes sense to invest in renewable gases as part of a broader approach to achieving emissions reduction targets.

“Biomethane, as a drop-in replacement fuel, could give these valuable companies the ability to reduce their emissions in a cost-effective way.  It could be the key to keeping many of these companies in Australia, rather than them moving operations overseas.”

Jemena is leading the charge on Australia’s renewable gas future and has begun injecting biomethane into the NSW gas network from its Malabar Biomethane Demonstration Project in South-East Sydney.

The project is expected to initially produce around 95 terajoules (TJs) of gas per year, before ramping up to 200TJs of biomethane annually – equivalent to the average annual usage of around 13,300 homes if put to use in the residential network.

For more information, visit www.gonaturalgas.com.au/renewable

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