On March 6, a round table was held at the Committee on Energy and Housing and Utilities Services of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the theme: “Natural Gas: Transitional Fuel between Fossil Resources and Renewable Energy Sources”

On March 6, the Committee on Energy and Housing and Communal Services of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine held a round table on the theme: “Natural gas: transitional fuel between fossil resources and renewable energy sources” on the initiative of the chairman of the subcommittee on banking, monetary stability, and interaction with the National Bank of Ukraine and consumer protection of financial services of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Olga Belkova and Chairman of the Committee on Energy and housing and communal services of Andrey Gerus.

The discussion was attended by Deputy Director for Research at the Gas Institute of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Technical Sciences Hennady Zhuk. In his short speech, he supported the topic of the round table, as relevant in the world of European trends in the use of natural gas (methane) as a transition fuel in carbonless energy. H.V. Zhuk noted the relevance in this context of compressed (CNG) and liquefied (LNG) methane technologies. And if CNG is quite widespread in Ukraine – at one time the Gas Institute joined the creation of a network of CNG filling stations in Ukraine, then LNG is absent in Ukraine, even at the level of pilot projects. At the same time, the use of LNG in the world is growing annually by 10%.

It is advisable to use the potential of liquefied methane in the field of automobile and other vehicles to introduce “virtual pipelines” from depleted and mothballed natural gas wells. This would additionally attract about 1.5 billion cubic meters of domestic gas annually.

Another potential source of methane is biomethane. Several powerful biogas plants are already operating in the state, but all biogas is used to generate electricity. At the end of 2019, a plant for producing biomethane from biogas was created at the Gas Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, also the first in Ukraine.

The Gas Institute and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine can increase their contribution to the development of technologies for the use of natural gas. It is advisable to create pilot projects in areas that need development. For example, our landfill gas projects have already produced more than 20 million cubic meters of gas. Technological developments were funded by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

H.V. Zhuk suggested that the Committee turn to the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Council of Ukraine on the development of science and technology on the development of a “Road Map” on the use of liquefied and compressed natural gas as:

– means of storage and transportation;

– motor fuel.

The executors could be the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, NAK Naftogaz, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.

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