On 3 December, 2020 POST and the non-partisan International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) hosted a closed briefing as one of a series of “Cryosphere 1.5°C Briefings”. These are the notes from the briefing. As this was a closed event for Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff, questions and comments during the different rounds of discussion have not been attributed.
Documents to download
-
Future of Natural Gas in the UK (458 KB, PDF)
- In 2014, the UK imported 45% of its gas.
- The Government plans to boost UK natural gas production to prevent or minimise falls in gas-related jobs, tax and investment.
- To stay within globally agreed climate change limits some existing gas reserves will likely need to go unused. This raises questions about new UK gas exploration.
- Burning natural gas produces lower greenhouse gas emissions than burning coal or oil. Switching to gas can help to meet short-term emission targets for power generation, heating and transport.
- However, installing too many new gas-using units may create barriers to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the long term.
- Most long-term gas use depends on the use of carbon capture and storage or biogas.
Related Links
Documents to download
-
Future of Natural Gas in the UK (458 KB, PDF)
Related posts
-
-
Join POST and experts from the Office for National Statistics in this closed briefing and discover everything you need to know about the 2021 census. What is the value of census data for parliamentary scrutiny? What research services does it enable? How are the needs of Parliament for social data evolving?
-
Large-scale woodland creation is being promoted internationally to mitigate climate change. It can also supply other benefits, such as improving biodiversity, air and water quality. This POSTnote summarises key factors influencing how much carbon is taken up by woodland, the different objectives of woodland creation, constraints to increasing UK tree cover and different finance options.
