The “bridge fuel” narrative for natural gas is being replaced. Not so easily replaced, however, is the demand for natural gas. Natural gas—just a couple of years ago hailed as the fuel that will bridge the fossil fuel era and the renewable energy era—now finds itself the target of growing opposition and pressure from environmental groups and governments. Natural gas was recently denied transition status by the European Union. This might sound like the start of the joke, but Brussels is, in fact, very serious: in a draft new rule, the European authorities set an emissions limit of 100 grams of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt-hour for gas-fired power plants. This is a level unattainable for these plants, which means they could lose billions in funding as investors flock to projects with the coveted “transition” label. And yet, whatever labels the EU attaches to different forms of energy generation, gas […]