Gas is the problem not the solution

People like to say that gas is needed as a bridging fuel to help us get to net zero. They claim that gas will speed up the transition to renewables. No one loves this argument more than the WA Premier Roger Cook.

On Radio National on Wednesday morning Roger Cook said:

“I think everyone recognises the anxieties that exist around fossil fuels at the moment. But certainly, when it comes to LNG it is going to continue to play an important role in the transition to clean energy.”

But a secret report that the WA government commissioned and received at the beginning of the year warns that rather than helping with the transition, WA’s LNG exports might be slowing the switch to renewable energy.

The report highlights 5 risks, including:

• Resources are directed to gas infrastructure and away from low-carbon technologies.
• Long-lived gas infrastructure can create a dependence on gas, delaying the transition.
• Cheap gas can delay the price competitiveness of low-carbon technologies.
• Focus on gas can reduce innovation on renewable energy and storage.
• Cheap gas can drive up energy consumption and increase emissions

This report’s findings are similar to those from a CSIRO report commissioned by Woodside in 2019.

The science is clear, we need to transition away from fossil fuels. Instead, Australia is expanding not just gas but also coal. Claims that this will help reduce emissions in the long run are deeply flawed.

This all highlights how wrong it was from the Federal Environment Minister to approve Woodside’s North West Shelf extension to 2070. We need to phase out gas and coal and arguments that it is part of the solution should be rejected.