In her presentation “Pathways for Sustainable Gas”, which formed part of a wider industry panel on ‘Gas under Threat’, Tørstad argued that there is still much work to be done to ensure the future efficiency of the gas value chain. Her key message was that collaboration, smart technology development and the right regulatory and political framework will be required if the industry is to develop a sustainable energy mix that will create a more solid platform for gas.

“There is something so natural about gas. It is such an efficient and relatively clean form of energy – there seems to be no question that it must and will play a very meaningful role in the transition to a sustainable energy future,” said Tørstad. “But, at the moment, we live in an oil-hungry world; it is not – yet – a gas-ready world.”

She profiled the work being undertaken by DNV GL to address the cost of gas production from a broader perspective, and explored interesting trends in the demand side, including the use of liquid natural gas in the transportation sector.

“At the policy level, we also need to address competition and complementarity between different sources of power generation (wind, solar, coal, gas) with different drivers (emissions and power price),” added Tørstad. “It is also my firm belief that we need an alignment of today’s fragmented industry regimes and policies to create an efficient long-term market for natural gas.”

DNV GL was lead sponsor at the FT European Gas Summit that was held on 23 October 2014.

Watch the video of Elisabeth Tørstad’s presentation at the FT European Gas Summit: