CAN FOSSIL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE BE CONVERTED TO EXTEND ITS LIFESPAN?

The briefing contends that converting fossil gas infrastructure to other energy sources is generally unrealistic due to technical challenges, prohibitive costs, and insufficient projected energy volumes. It asserts that hydrogen and biogas cannot replace the scale of fossil gas, and that 'blending' serves only to prolong fossil gas dependency. While it acknowledges limited viability for converting long-distance pipelines and geological storage for 'hard-to-abate' sectors, it concludes that no new gas infrastructure is justified based on future conversion potential.

• Projected energy volumes for hydrogen and gaseous bioenergy (biogas and biomethane) by 2050 are significantly lower than current fossil gas volumes, meaning infrastructure requirements for these alternatives will be much smaller. Specifically, hydrogen is projected at 6 Exajoules (EJ) and gaseous bioenergy at 15 EJ, compared to 145 EJ for current fossil gas.
• The practice of 'blending' fossil gas with hydrogen or biomethane is viewed as a method to maintain a system dependent on fossil gas rather than a genuine decarbonization tool, as it reduces greenhouse gas emissions less effectively than infrastructure dedicated solely to blended gases.
• Hydrogen conversion is only viable for specific applications related to 'hard-to-abate' sectors, such as the conversion of long-distance transport pipelines and long-term geological storage (e.g., salt caverns and depleted oil and gas reservoirs). However, converting LNG terminals for liquefied hydrogen is considered economically unviable due to prohibitive costs and technical challenges.
• Converting infrastructure for biogas is deemed pointless and unjustifiable because industrial biogas development is considered unsustainable, lacking climate change mitigation benefits and causing harm to biodiversity, ecosystems, human health, and agricultural land.

APA

Reclaim Finance (n.d.). CAN FOSSIL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE BE CONVERTED TO EXTEND ITS LIFESPAN? https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Can-gas-infrastructure-be-converted-to-extend-its-lifespan.pdf

Chicago

Reclaim Finance. CAN FOSSIL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE BE CONVERTED TO EXTEND ITS LIFESPAN? n.d. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Can-gas-infrastructure-be-converted-to-extend-its-lifespan.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Reclaim Finance |title=CAN FOSSIL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE BE CONVERTED TO EXTEND ITS LIFESPAN? |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Can-gas-infrastructure-be-converted-to-extend-its-lifespan.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{reclaimfinancendcan, author = {{Reclaim Finance}}, title = {{CAN FOSSIL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE BE CONVERTED TO EXTEND ITS LIFESPAN?}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Can-gas-infrastructure-be-converted-to-extend-its-lifespan.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }