Climate Change: World risks falling behind on environmental goals if natural gas pipeline binge continues, Global Energy Monitor says
- Massive expansion of pipeline network threatens climate goals and creates a US$485.8 billion ‘stranded asset risk’, NGO says
- Demand for natural gas will continue to rise for many years in Asia, analysts say
Of the nearly 193,400 kilometres of pipeline being built or in pre-construction development globally, about 56,100km are in China, said Global Energy Monitor (GEM), which catalogues fossil fuel and renewable energy projects worldwide.
Its survey found that cancellations and delays in some parts of the world were offset by rapid expansion elsewhere, especially in Asia. China’s pipeline projects were three times that of second-placed India, which had 18,400km of pipelines.
“A massive expansion of the global gas pipeline network threatens climate goals and creates a US$485.8 billion ‘stranded asset risk’,” the San Francisco-based non-governmental organisation said in a report on Tuesday. “This expansion is occurring despite the International Energy Agency [IEA] warning that gas usage must peak within the next few years and that the world must quickly transition from fossil fuels to renewables.”
The projects, including those worth US$89.1 billion in China, will be exposed to stranded asset risk since fossil fuels are to be phased out in coming decades as the world transitions to a low-carbon energy future, GEM said. Gas pipelines can typically operate for 40 to 50 years.