Potential role of natural gas infrastructure in China to supply low-carbon gases during 2020–2050. (15th January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Jinrui; Meerman, Hans; Benders, René; Faaij, André
• Is Part Of: Applied energy. Volume 306:Part A(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-01-15
• Subjects: Hydrogen -- Biomethane -- Bio-synthetic methane -- Natural gas infrastructure -- GHG emissions -- Techno-economic assessment; Power (Mechanics) -- Periodicals; Energy conservation -- Periodicals; Energy conversion -- Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117989
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-2619

Abstract

Highlights: Supply low-carbon gas in NG infrastructure during 2020–2050 in China for scenarios. Estimation of production of biomethane, bio-SNG, low-carbon SNG, and H2 . Assess provincial gas flow and gas infrastructure capacity in network flow model. Techno-economic and GHG emissions assessment of low-carbon gas supply chains. By replacing natural gas, avoided GHG emissions and GHG avoidance cost are defined. Abstract: As natural gas (NG) demand increases in China, the question arises how the NG infrastructure fit into a low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions future towards 2050. Herein, the potential role of the NG infrastructure in supplying low-carbon gases during 2020–2050 for China at a provincial resolution was analyzed for different scenarios. In total, four low-carbon gases were considered in this study: biomethane, bio-synthetic methane, hydrogen, and low-carbon synthetic methane. The results show that the total potential of low-carbon gas production can increase from 1.21 EJ to 5.25 EJ during 2020–2050, which can replace 20%–67% of the imported gas. In particular, Yunnan and Inner Mongolia contribute 17% of China's low-carbon gas production. As the deployment of NG infrastructure can be very different, three scenarios replacing imported pipeline NG were found to reduce the expansion of gas infrastructure by 35%–42%, while the three scenarios replacing LNG imports were found to increase infrastructure expansion by 31%–53%, as compared to the base case. The cumulative avoided GHG emissions for the 6 analyzed scenarios were 6.0–8.3 Gt CO2 . The GHG avoidance costs were highly influenced by the NG price. This study shows that the NG infrastructure has the potential to supply low-carbon gases in China, thereby significantly reducing GHG emissions and increasing both China's short- and long-term gas supply independence.