With around 82% of the world's energy still coming from fossil fuels (The Energy Institute, 2022), we’re a long way away from where we want to be when it comes to sustainable energy production. Are bridge fuels like natural gas or biofuel part of the answer?
What are bridge fuels?
Bridge fuels are energy solutions that are considered better for the planet than fossil fuels, while still having a lot of environmental impact question marks when compared to other renewable sources like solar or wind power.
Why do we need a ‘bridge?’
In the roadmap to net zero, we need 90% of our energy to come from renewable sources by 2050. In an ideal world, we’d all start using renewable energy now, but reaching our emissions targets is a real world challenge, and as such, things are a bit more complicated.
Why don’t we just switch to solar and wind now?
First of all, cost - change is expensive! This would be a massive upfront cost that most countries simply aren’t prepared for.
Price tag aside, the logistics of completely switching the grid over are complex. This is partly because solar and wind aren’t a constant supply of energy. Surges of energy create inconsistent amounts of energy and therefore require different storage and transport solutions compared to fossil fuels. This means that significant modifications to power supply systems are often needed to shift away from fossil fuels.
How can bridge fuels help?
The theory is that bridge fuels can fill in the gap between where we are now and where we want to be.
Unlike wind or solar power, bridge fuels can be generated to meet demand, meaning complex grid alterations - like increased storage capacity needed for wind and solar - are not necessary. This creates an opportunity to move away from fossil fuels quickly and, in the meantime, we can continue to work on systems to support more renewable options.
They can also be used to supplement wind and solar during low production times of day (solar) or year (wind).
Examples of bridge fuels
For a lot of people, natural gas is considered a bridge fuel. We’d also say that many biofuels fall into this category.
It should be noted that there is also a large supply of biomass energy which, instead of waste biomass, relies on biomass grown specifically for energy generation. This has a very different impact on the planet.
While waste biomass can be a solid choice for offset projects, regular bioenergy has a host of environmental issues that need to be taken into account when considering the role it should play in the future.
Potential issues with bridge fuels
There’s a danger that money is channeled into bridge fuels rather than more sustainable options. While this might mean meeting short term targets, it is potentially at the expense of long term ones.
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