◆ New technologies on the horizon;
industry is still in the process of introducing
◆ Small-scale LNG for all kinds of end-users;
this tool.
◆ Upgrading of biogas. Each study group and topic team prepared
With the advancement of production tech nology, unconventional gas, such as shale gas,
and presented their final report during thematic
has become a focus of global attention. The
sessions. These reports contained specific
committee studied the environmental effects of
information about topics listed above.
this new natural gas resource to find out what
Additional information could found in oral and
the truth is and what the industry can do to
interactive presentations made at WGC 2015.
reduce its environmental impact.
Program Committee A – Sustainability
promising source of energy, and it will continue
PGC A focused on the environmental effects of
to be well into the future. However, to make
natural gas. Although natural gas is the clean
this possible, the industry must continue to
est of the fossil fuels, it still contributes to
work hard and communicate with stakeholders
global warming by emitting greenhouse gases.
along the way.
Right now natural gas is a competitive,
It is crucial that the gas industry understands the true impact of natural gas on the global
Program Committee B – Strategy
environment so it can be more than transitional
During the 2012-2015 Triennium, PGC B
or bridge energy.
focused on three topics for study:
During the 2012-2015 Triennium, PGC A
1 World gas supply, demand and trade;
focused on four topics: carbon capture and
2 Wholesale gas price formation;
storage (CCS), biogas, life cycle analysis (LCA)
3 Strategy and regulation.
and unconventional gas. CCS technology coupled with natural gas is a
The committee also carried out a study on the long-term prospects for natural gas; identi
promising technology to cope with global warm
fying the main drivers that will determine the
ing. Although it is not an ultimate solution, it
future market for gas.
buys precious time as the world unites to cope
The world gas supply and demand study
with one of the greatest challenges of our time.
highlighted a continued growth for natural gas
The committee published a report outlining
in the world. Global demand, which is currently
how CCS can be introduced to the gas industry
at 3300 bcm per year, is expected to grow with
and made useful recommendations.
a compound annual growth rate of 1.1 % per
Biogas is a carbon-neutral type of natural
year, which means that by 2035 global demand
gas. It is not available everywhere because the
will have reached 4800 bcm. However, growth
feedstock is either unavailable or insufficient.
has started to shift from the established gas
But it could play a valuable role in remote areas
industries in Europe, North America and the CIS
where energy infrastructure is not in place. The
to growing markets in Asia, in particular China
committee produced a biogas country report
and India. Considerable growth is also expected
on how the gas is produced and to what extent.
in the Middle East, which has seen continuous
The LCA of natural gas, which describes its
growth in recent years, adding almost 200 bcm
comprehensive environmental effects, will help
in demand within the last 10 years.
understand how the industry could do more to
The wholesale gas price formation study was
reduce greenhouse gases along the natural gas
the seventh in a row and covered almost all gas
chain. The committee’s study showed that the ind
demand in the world. It was found that 43% of
ustry is aware of the LCA and its usefulness,
gas traded is priced based on some form of gas-
but due to the lack of basic information the
on-gas competition, with 35% of global gas
132 P o s t - C o n f e r e n c e R e p o r t s f r o m t h e C o m m i t t e e s a n d Ta s k F o r c e s