Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the future of the national gas network.

Natural gas has an important and on-going role to play into the future as we decarbonise our energy system. However, how we use natural gas will need to change in order to minimise the carbon dioxide emissions associated with burning it.

Whilst we do not yet have certainty on the future role and extent of the distribution or transmission networks, there are steps we can take in the near-term to enable a decarbonised gas pathway. .

The existing gas networks, systems and markets will be important in providing the knowledge and the building blocks for the transition to Net Zero through the introduction of low carbon gases and a potential role for Hydrogen.