I try to read from a wide range of sources, in an attempt to better target future papers to my primary readers (members of Energy Central and the therein members of the Energy Industry). Since this audience is also part of the general public it is reasonable that, if the general public is confused about a given energy-related issue, this is also a subject I should write about.
There is a debate in Europe regarding what constitutes a renewable electricity source, and specifically whether natural-gas fired plants should be considered “renewable” under reasonable conditions. Natural Gas is labeled as a “transition fuel”, and investments in a natural gas plant will count as “green power” if:
- The plant emits no more than 270 grams of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) per kWh of electricity produced
- The natural gas plant must replace a plant with higher GHG emissions per kWh
The key point here is this discussion regarding natural gas seems to be an “either or” discussion. In fact, a modern combined cycle plant fueled with geologically sourced natural gas can evolve to very low GHG emissions in the future. I had researched this subject about a year ago and put a few of paragraphs on this subject in a post. Unfortunately I had buried these deeply in a paper that was really on a (somewhat) different subject. I will put these subsections in this post and add some additional information.