Thread by @e3g

Ready, steady, go! We're now kicking off our panel discussion on the role of gas in a "better recovery" that we're co-hosting with @CarbonBubble as part of #LCAW2020.

Follow this thread for live highlights from the debate 👇

Lily Chau from @CarbonBubble has brought three key messages for the debate:

1⃣ Economics: new renewables are already cheaper than existing gas plants, and the trend will continue, making an increasing number of gas plants in Europe unprofitable

2⃣ Security of supply can be achieved without gas plants, using renewables and flexibility technologies such as batteries, efficiency and demand response.

3⃣ Some challenges for phasing out fossil gas remain, including the interdependency of district heating and fossil fuels.

Now up: E3G's @FactFisching on gas in the recovery.

What do we need during the recovery, she asks?

First, jobs - renewables create more jobs than fossil fuels, as per @VividEconomics.

Second, consumption - energy efficiency measures lead to large household savings (@IEA).

Third, resilience - gas is increasingly facing a "demand squeez", while renewables are a global growth market.

Fourth and last, sustainable growth - which is undermined by gas. In Europe, gas is already responsible for more emissions than coal.

All full points on Lisa's slide:

Andrew Prag, Senior Advisor @OECD_ENV, is the next speaker on our panel. He points out that the debate about gas changed rapidly due to net-zero commitments & price decreases of renewables, as well as the push for hydrogen. Projections for future gas demand are falling rapidly.

There's great momentum for a "green recovery", Andrew says - but there are still a lot of investments into fossil fuels in stimulus measures announced so far. Three key energy stimulus measures have a large effect on the future outlook for gas: renewables, efficiency & hydrogen.

Methane emissions just from natural gas are likely equal to the annual emissions of Japan - as long as there's gas in the system, it's important to tackle methane emissions and differentiate gas by overall lifecycle emissions, Andrew Prag @OECD_ENV argues. #LCAW2020

What's holding back a more rapid switch to renewables? @MLiebreich outlines three issues:
1) No robust answer for last 10-20% of renewables in energy mix
2) Incumbents seeking to protect their assets, e.g. gas infrastructure
3) Questions on future of fossil fuel exporting states

And here are three messages from @MLiebreich on gas in the recovery:
1) Don't put gas at the heart of the recovery plans
2) Signal that gas is not a bridge and is on its way out
3) Put money into distributed programmes, e.g. large pilot projects to get houses off the gas grid

Plus two bonus messages:
4) Don't send conflicting signals with hydrogen, stress electrification wherever possible
5) Don't be too sceptical of blue hydrogen

That's a wrap - thanks to everyone who's joined our panel @london_climate #LCAW2020, and in particular to the panellists Lily Chau, Andrew Prag, @MLiebreich and @FactFisching as well as today's moderator @Jones_Pippa and our partners @CarbonBubble.