Gas, explained

Gas is a fossil fuel burned for heating and to produce electricity. The UK is heavily dependent on gas, but there are alternatives – such as renewables, insulation and heat pumps.

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Burning gas, a fossil fuel, is one of the causes of climate change. 

Gas is burned for heating and to create electricity. It’s central to energy production in many parts of the world, including in Europe. 

The UK is heavily dependent on gas, and doesn’t have much storage. So disruptions in supply can cause huge rises in the price of gas – and therefore home energy bills.

The good news is that there are many clean alternatives to gas, for both home heating and electricity.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is natural gas?

Gas, sometimes called “natural gas” or methane, is a fossil fuel that’s burned to produce heating and electricity. Burning gas accounts for around a quarter of electricity created around the world. It’s transported through pipelines or made into liquid and sent by ship.

Gas is found in pockets under the earth’s surface, and is extracted, like oil, through drilling. It’s often called “natural” gas by the industry to make it seem more environmentally-friendly. But it’s still a fossil fuel that, like oil and coal, is causing climate change.

Causes of climate change
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Is natural gas renewable?

Natural gas is not renewable. It’s a fossil fuel that’s extracted from underground rock formations – and burned to create energy.

How does burning gas create energy?

To create electricity, gas is burned in gas-fired power stations. Burning gas creates hot gases. The expansion of these hot gases spins a turbine which generates electricity.

For gas-based heating in homes, a boiler burns the gas as fuel to heat water. This heated water is sent through to radiators or pipes to warm the home. It’s also used for cooking – using gas stoves and some ovens.

Gas in the UK

Gas has a lot of uses in the UK, from home heating, cooking and electricity production, to industry processes. The UK is one of the countries in Europe most heavily dependent on gas. 

A large amount of the UK’s gas supply comes from gas fields in the North Sea. Because of this, Norway is a big supplier of gas to the UK.

A ‘just transition’ away from gas

Many jobs in the UK centre around gas extraction and use. It’s important that the move away from fossil fuels in general, and gas specifically, is fair and equitable. This is often called a “just transition”.

For example, offshore gas workers can be retrained to work on offshore wind farms. 

But to be fair (or “just”), this transition has to be done with support from both the government and the industries involved, so workers aren’t left without options for earning a living.

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What are the alternatives to burning gas?

There is much to do in order to reduce the amount of gas we use, because we use it for so many different things. But reducing gas is one of the main things we need to do to reach net zero by 2050.

Luckily, many solutions to reducing gas for home electricity and heating already exist and are ready to go. 

Renewables like wind and solar are already reducing the need for gas for electricity. For home heating, the UK should insulate all buildings properly to save on the amount of heat needed, and replace gas boilers with heat pumps.

Is hydrogen an alternative to gas?

You may have heard about hydrogen as an alternative to gas or even as a way to fuel vehicles. Burning hydrogen doesn’t release carbon dioxide, so some people have considered an alternative to burning gas, for use in home boilers and for industry.

But hydrogen doesn’t just exist; it needs to be produced. Producing hydrogen needs a lot of energy.

  • Green hydrogen is the cleanest, but it needs a very large amount of renewable energy to be able to supply hydrogen for home heating.
  • Blue hydrogen is not clean – producing it this way needs a lot of fossil fuels (and carbon capture and storage does not make it anywhere near clean enough).