How is natural gas used and what is driving growth in consumption?
Natural gas meets about 25 % of total world energy demand, and thus, like oil, plays a very important part in meeting global energy needs. Natural gas has accounted for almost one third of the world's energy consumption growth during the last decade, and the use of natural gas is expected to increase in the future as well. Natural gas is used mainly for heating homes and commercial buildings, cooking and power generation and in the petrochemical industry.
Many of the products we use every day, such as cell phones, makeup, sunglasses, computers, medications and fertilizers for agriculture are made with natural gas as a feedstock. Natural gas is transported by pipeline or is cooled and pressurised to produce LNG, which is transported on LNG carriers. Economic growth, the prices of alternative energy sources, weather, temperature, climate change adaptation and mitigation measures are all factors that influence gas demand.
Using gas instead of coal for power generation can yield considerable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Europe and the rest of the world collectively use a significant amount of coal for power generation. In electricity production, gas emits approximately half as much CO2 as coal. Replacing coal with gas in power generation can be a good measure to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.
Gas is also a good partner for intermittent renewable energy. Unlike hydroelectric power, other renewable energy sources such as sun and wind cannot be stored over time and are as such less flexible. In the absence of effective storage capability of energy, gas can produce power when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow. As Europe is getting more and more intermittent renewable energy sources, the more Europe will need the kind of flexibility gas can provide in order to balance fluctuations in the energy supply and ensure that consumers have reliable power supply.
Gas exporting countries
Norway is the fourth largest gas exporter in the world (2023). Several of the world’s largest gas producers export little to other countries. When assessing the global gas market, it is therefore most important to consider which countries have the largest volumes available for export.
