Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
Gas is not a bridge to cleaner energy; it’s a wall – Senior Policy Advisor warns
Kaieteur News – Following the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many leaders across the globe have renewed their intentions to lead economies that run on cleaner energy. But instead of an immediate switch to renewable projects to prove their pledges are sincere, policy leaders such as those in Guyana have said gas will be used in the interim as “the bridge” to realising their clean energy goals.
Greg Muttitt, Senior Policy Advisor, Energy Supply at IISD
Upon noting this, one international advisor has publically stated that citizens ought to hear alarm bells when such statements are made since gas is not a bridge but rather, a wall. Specifically making this comment in recent times was Greg Muttitt, a Senior Policy Advisor on Energy Supply at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). The IISD is an independent think tank founded in 1990 and headquartered in Canada.
Muttitt categorically stated in his written commentary that gas impedes rather than enables the energy transition. Further to this, he said the idea of gas acting as a bridge to the “clean energy transition” is just obsolete thinking and for three main reasons.
Expounding in this regard, he said, “First, after decades of continually rising carbon emissions, there is no longer room for more fossil fuels of any type: the International Energy Agency argued in May that to meet the Paris Agreement goals (of lowering global temperature), there should be no investments in new gas, oil, or coal production.”
Muttitt added, “Second, the costs of renewable energy have fallen dramatically, and renewables are now cheaper than fossil fuels in most of the world. Third, recent findings on the extent of methane leakage from gas infrastructure undermine claims of environmental benefits over other fossil fuels.”
With those three critical points in mind, Muttitt argued that the world has already missed the opportunity to cross over to cleaner energy via a gas bridge. But what is more important to understand he said is the fact that the world does not even need a gas bridge given the declining costs of renewables and their unmatched environmental benefits.
He said, “Gas is therefore more like a wall than a bridge, impeding rather than enabling the energy transition by competing with renewable energy for investment and policy support.”
Muttitt also contended that there should not be further investments in gas as it is a poor use of public money and serves only the interests of powerful and polluting companies.
As economic resources remain constrained in the coming years, Muttitt said it is vital that scarce public funds are devoted to building economies that are powered by renewables as opposed to fossil fuels.
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