IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i24p9596-d1006620.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can Industry Keep Gas Distribution Networks Alive? Future Development of the Gas Network in a Decarbonized World: A German Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Stella Oberle

    (Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Systems IEG, Breslauer Str. 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany)

  • Marius Neuwirth

    (Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Breslauer Str. 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany)

  • Till Gnann

    (Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Breslauer Str. 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany)

  • Martin Wietschel

    (Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Breslauer Str. 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany)

Abstract

With the growing need for decarbonization, the future gas demand will decrease and the necessity of a gas distribution network is at stake. A remaining industrial gas demand on the distribution network level could lead to industry becoming the main gas consumer supplied by the gas distribution network, leading to the question: can industry keep the gas distribution network alive? To answer this research question, a three-stage analysis was conducted, starting from a rough estimate of average gas demand per production site and then increasing the level of detail. This paper shows that about one third of the German industry sites investigated are currently supplied by the gas distribution network. While the steel industry offers new opportunities, the food and tobacco industry alone cannot sustain the gas distribution network by itself.

Suggested Citation

  • Stella Oberle & Marius Neuwirth & Till Gnann & Martin Wietschel, 2022. "Can Industry Keep Gas Distribution Networks Alive? Future Development of the Gas Network in a Decarbonized World: A German Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:24:p:9596-:d:1006620
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9596/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9596/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bühler, Fabian & Zühlsdorf, Benjamin & Nguyen, Tuong-Van & Elmegaard, Brian, 2019. "A comparative assessment of electrification strategies for industrial sites: Case of milk powder production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1383-1401.
    2. Kapil, Ankur & Bulatov, Igor & Smith, Robin & Kim, Jin-Kuk, 2012. "Process integration of low grade heat in process industry with district heating networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 11-19.
    3. Pia Manz & Katerina Kermeli & Urban Persson & Marius Neuwirth & Tobias Fleiter & Wina Crijns-Graus, 2021. "Decarbonizing District Heating in EU-27 + UK: How Much Excess Heat Is Available from Industrial Sites?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-34, January.
    4. Daniel Then & Christian Spalthoff & Johannes Bauer & Tanja M. Kneiske & Martin Braun, 2020. "Impact of Natural Gas Distribution Network Structure and Operator Strategies on Grid Economy in Face of Decreasing Demand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-33, February.
    5. Rehfeldt, M. & Worrell, E. & Eichhammer, W. & Fleiter, T., 2020. "A review of the emission reduction potential of fuel switch towards biomass and electricity in European basic materials industry until 2030," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    6. Zwickl-Bernhard, Sebastian & Auer, Hans, 2022. "Demystifying natural gas distribution grid decommissioning: An open-source approach to local deep decarbonization of urban neighborhoods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PB).
    7. Guelpa, Elisa & Bischi, Aldo & Verda, Vittorio & Chertkov, Michael & Lund, Henrik, 2019. "Towards future infrastructures for sustainable multi-energy systems: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 2-21.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jolando M. Kisse & Martin Braun & Simon Letzgus & Tanja M. Kneiske, 2020. "A GIS-Based Planning Approach for Urban Power and Natural Gas Distribution Grids with Different Heat Pump Scenarios," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-31, August.
    2. Heendeniya, Charitha Buddhika & Sumper, Andreas & Eicker, Ursula, 2020. "The multi-energy system co-planning of nearly zero-energy districts – Status-quo and future research potential," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    3. Xiaoyang Hou & Shuai Zhong & Jian’an Zhao, 2022. "A Critical Review on Decarbonizing Heating in China: Pathway Exploration for Technology with Multi-Sector Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Guelpa, Elisa & Bischi, Aldo & Verda, Vittorio & Chertkov, Michael & Lund, Henrik, 2019. "Towards future infrastructures for sustainable multi-energy systems: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 2-21.
    5. Farrokhifar, Meisam & Nie, Yinghui & Pozo, David, 2020. "Energy systems planning: A survey on models for integrated power and natural gas networks coordination," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    6. Alves, Luís & Pereira, Vítor & Lagarteira, Tiago & Mendes, Adélio, 2021. "Catalytic methane decomposition to boost the energy transition: Scientific and technological advancements," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    7. Quan-Hoang Vuong & Quang-Loc Nguyen & Ruining Jin & Minh-Hieu Thi Nguyen & Thi-Phuong Nguyen & Viet-Phuong La & Minh-Hoang Nguyen, 2023. "Increasing Supply for Woody-Biomass-Based Energy through Wasted Resources: Insights from US Private Landowners," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, May.
    8. Fridgen, Gilbert & Keller, Robert & Körner, Marc-Fabian & Schöpf, Michael, 2020. "A holistic view on sector coupling," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Jo, Ara & Miftakhova, Alena, 2024. "How constant is constant elasticity of substitution? Endogenous substitution between clean and dirty energy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    10. Oluleye, Gbemi & Jobson, Megan & Smith, Robin, 2015. "A hierarchical approach for evaluating and selecting waste heat utilization opportunities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P1), pages 5-23.
    11. Ron-Hendrik Hechelmann & Jan-Peter Seevers & Alexander Otte & Jan Sponer & Matthias Stark, 2020. "Renewable Energy Integration for Steam Supply of Industrial Processes—A Food Processing Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    12. Yue Dou & Muhammad Shahbaz & Kangyin Dong & Xiucheng Dong, 2022. "How natural disasters affect carbon emissions: the global case," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 113(3), pages 1875-1901, September.
    13. Zhang, Dongjie & Ma, Ting, 2022. "Study on slagging in a waste-heat recovery boiler associated with a bottom-blown metal smelting furnace," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    14. Darya Pyatkina & Tamara Shcherbina & Vadim Samusenkov & Irina Razinkina & Mariusz Sroka, 2021. "Modeling and Management of Power Supply Enterprises’ Cash Flows," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-17, February.
    15. Schlosser, F. & Jesper, M. & Vogelsang, J. & Walmsley, T.G. & Arpagaus, C. & Hesselbach, J., 2020. "Large-scale heat pumps: Applications, performance, economic feasibility and industrial integration," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    16. Berjawi, A.E.H. & Walker, S.L. & Patsios, C. & Hosseini, S.H.R., 2021. "An evaluation framework for future integrated energy systems: A whole energy systems approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    17. Ziemele, Jelena & Dace, Elina, 2022. "An analytical framework for assessing the integration of the waste heat into a district heating system: Case of the city of Riga," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    18. Saletti, Costanza & Morini, Mirko & Gambarotta, Agostino, 2022. "Smart management of integrated energy systems through co-optimization with long and short horizons," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    19. Kamila Słupińska & Marek Wieruszewski & Piotr Szczypa & Anna Kożuch & Krzysztof Adamowicz, 2022. "Public Perception of the Use of Woody Biomass for Energy Purposes in the Evaluation of Content and Information Management on the Internet," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-11, September.
    20. Simon Moser & Stefan Puschnigg, 2021. "Supra-Regional District Heating Networks: A Missing Infrastructure for a Sustainable Energy System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-15, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:24:p:9596-:d:1006620. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.