| Government should develop a long-term cross-sectoral infrastructure strategy by 2025, to adapt and build respectively the distribution of liquid and gaseous fuels, electricity, and CO2 networks over the next decade. |
204. There is still significant uncertainty as to the composition of future fuel demand across different economic sectors. Government should consider how further certainty could be provided, including on future infrastructure requirements.
205. It will not just be electricity networks that power the green economy. We will need to repurpose old and build new infrastructure to support hydrogen networks for new industrial processes, a CO2 network as the backbone of our CCUS facilities and we will still use our natural gas and fuel distribution network for many years. Work is underway to better understand the infrastructure needs of future sectors, including as part of the Government's UK Hydrogen Strategy, the Future of Gas programme and DfT's Low Carbon Fuels Strategy. However, there is currently no comprehensive overview of where there might be synergies between different fuels and how existing infrastructure might be repurposed. This carries the risk of stranded assets as well as infrastructure costs acting as a barrier to greener fuels. It also raises questions as to the distribution of costs, including for continued use of legacy infrastructure and its decommissioning.
206. While this work is highly dependent on technological progress and deployment of different technologies, government should consider how to foster cross-sectoral collaboration in this area.
207. This Review recommends developing by 2025 a long-term cross-sectoral infrastructure strategy to adapt and build respectively the distribution of liquid and gaseous fuels, electricity and CO2 networks over the next decade.
208. The strategy should consider future use of hydrogen, biofuels and other low carbon fuels as well as oil and gas across sectors including power, heating and transport. This could help identify potential synergies as well as infrastructure gaps, helping address barriers to new projects.