Today, 11.09.2024, the Vice President of International Gas Union (IGU) Andrea Stegher took part in “The Role of Natural Gas and Biomethane in the Fair, Affordable and Sustainable Energy Transition” event organised under the patronage of H.E. Mr Alexandre Silveira, the Minister of Mines and Energy of Brazil.

Held in the capital city of Brazil and in light of Brazil’s current G20 Presidency, this exclusive event addressed the advantages and challenges faced in applying natural gas as an energy source, especially in industrial sectors considered hard to abate.

In addition to many representatives of the G20 diplomatic corps and international media, attending the event was the Governor of the State of Amazonas, Wilson Lima; the senator and president of the Brazilian Parliamentary Front for Natural Resources and Energy, Veneziano Vital do Rêgo; the Federal Deputy Hugo Leal, Vice President of the Energy Commission of Brazil’s National House of Representatives, and Senator Laercio Oliveira, representing the Infrastructure Commission of the Brazilian Senate.

In his plenary address, Stegher highlighted the criticality of continuous innovation in the gas sector, as green gases and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects are fundamental in supporting the energy transition paths:

“Brazil is playing a leading role as the current president of G20, promoting a just, secure and accessible energy transition. Your country is a great example of how important a diversified and complimentary energy matrix is to achieve the global goal of net zero.”

“Brazil has the most precious ecosystem in the world, the Amazon, rightly called the lung of our planet. The global gas industry is perfectly positioned to ensure that emission reductions can be easily achieved so that this lung can continue to breathe for all of us. Gas is essential to human progress and global growth as the world is navigating existential industrial, energy, financial, and political uncertainties.

The path to global and regional prosperity, net zero, climate and energy aspirations go through gas. Natural gas and its evolving technologies support the renewable energy supply by overcoming intermittency and instability. Gas and renewables can enable net-zero pathways, energy security and access issues.”