(MENAFN - Gulf Times) A low-carbon future is emerging as a key concern for the international community, especially with the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015.
This agreement has certainly galvanised the energy community, with more than 190 countries pledging to mitigate their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).
However, subsequent United States' (US) withdrawal from the Paris climate accord has become a clear setback to efforts at combating global warming.
Natural gas is cited as the ideal solution to the climate change issue, resulting from the race to meet rising economic standards of living and industrial need of the growing population of this planet.
Paving the way to a low carbon future must take into account the compatibility of carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation with sustainable development, including its economic, social, and environmental dimensions, according to the Doha-based Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).
Consumers of natural gas benefit from its economic and environmental advantages, GECF said in its recent outlook. Therefore, the demand for natural gas is expected to grow during the 2017-2040 period, as customers seek an energy source that supports economic development and addresses environmental concerns.
For this reason, the share of natural gas in the global energy mix is expected to increase from 22% in 2016 to 26% in 2040.
Natural gas is set to become the fastest growing fossil fuel, with an annual growth rate of 1.8%, reaching 5,395bn cubic metres (bcm) in 2040. Global gas consumption will increase by 53% between 2017 and 2040, a GECF study shows.
Experts see a boom in liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade in the coming years in view of the expansion of Qatar's LNG industry as well as in other GECF member countries in addition to liquefaction facilities coming online in the US and Australia.
At the first international gas seminar of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum on the sidelines of the 4th GECF Summit in Santa Cruz, Bolivia recently, HE the Minister of Energy and Industry, Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada said using natural gas, unlike other fossil fuels, would be beneficial to the environment.
'Natural gas emits virtually no sulphur oxides, and up to 80% less nitrogen oxides than coal, al-Sada said, noting that within the natural gas sector, liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand is expected to grow at more than double the rate of natural gas, growing from 260mn tonnes per year to over 600mn tonnes a year over the next two decades.
But very few new LNG projects are expected to come in the earlier part of the next decade. As a result, the global LNG market will start to tighten, potentially facing a supply shortage by 2025 onwards.
This scenario led Qatar, under the visionary guidance of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, to take the wise decision to increase Qatar's LNG production from 77mn to 100mn tonnes per year, to be operational by 2024.
Obviously, Qatar will continue to play a major role in providing clean energy to all corners of the globe.

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