Demand and supply of natural gas

This is a quick post based around three charts describing our natural gas supply and demand. As households we are responsible for gas use both directly in our homes and via the electricity supply. Given the constraints on non-Russian supply at the moment, and the increase in prices for both gas and electricity, restraint is called for all round.

This chart is from Energy Trends showing demand for gas by quarter.  Domestic demand is at the top. 'Other' is mostly other buildings. We are currently in Q2 and demand is decreasing but there is still lots of demand for electricity generation.

Chart from [1]

Where do we get our gas from? About half is imported. We export a quarter of the gas we produce, mainly in summer when demand is low. We don't have a lot of storage capacity. 

Chart from[1]

Over half our imports are from Norway by pipeline.Most of the rest comes via ship as LNG (liquified natural gas). This has higher carbon emissions because of the process for liquefying and also because some methane is used or leaks in transit. Estimates as to quite how much more vary depending on distance and other considerations. The North Sea Transition Authority estimates 22 g/kWh extra [3] while a study based on supply to Europe found an extra 36 g/kWh or even more (10g/MJ [4]). This compares to 180 gCO2/kWh from direct combustion.

Chart based on data from [2]

During the summer, we are not using much gas to heat buildings but we are still using electricity. Homes account for 38% of total electricity demand [2]. Even if you are on a 100% renewable tariff, and on a fixed price which has not increased yet, using less means we have to use less gas for our power stations and reduces global prices. So please be frugal.

* this is based on the supply chain for LNG producing about  half the 

[1] Energy Trends (gov.uk) March 2022

[2] Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2021

[3] North Sea Gas has lower carbon footprint than imported LNG (Dec 2020) North Sea Transition Authority 

[4] How to evaluate pipeline versus LNG (Dec 2020) CE Energy News.