Rapid fuel switching from coal to natural gas through effective carbon pricing

I. A. Grant Wilson () and Iain Staffell
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I. A. Grant Wilson: Energy2050, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield

Nature Energy, 2018, vol. 3, issue 5, 365-372

Abstract: Abstract Great Britain’s overall carbon emissions fell by 6% in 2016, due to cleaner electricity production. This was not due to a surge in low-carbon nuclear or renewable sources; instead it was the much-overlooked impact of fuel switching from coal to natural gas generation. This Perspective considers the enabling conditions in Great Britain and the potential for rapid fuel switching in other coal-reliant countries. We find that spare generation and fuel supply-chain capacity must already exist for fuel switching to deliver rapid carbon savings, and to avoid further high-carbon infrastructure lock-in. More important is the political will to alter the marketplace and incentivize this switch, for example, through a stable and strong carbon price. With the right incentives, fuel switching in the power sector could rapidly achieve on the order of 1 GtCO2 saving per year worldwide (3% of global emissions), buying precious time to slow the growth in cumulative carbon emissions.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41560-018-0109-0

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