Dr. Paul McGowan:

Right now, I do not know the answer to that question. When when we talk about this diversity of supply we are being quite open. We have obligations around security of supply and we must consider all options. A relationship has been drawn between LNG and certain types of gas and I am not sure that this helps the overall discussion. LNG can be and could be natural gas. Another point on diversity of supply is the type of gas that is entering the system. We should also be considering what role indigenous biogas will have and what role blue hydrogen might have as we transition through a blended natural gas system to a system that might ultimately be decarbonised.

There are many aspects to diversity of supply. I would neither rule in nor rule out that we might be discussing the role of LNG, but I emphasise that we should take the idea of fracked gas and separate it completely from the idea of LNG, to just consider LNG, if we are looking at that as a route for natural gas to ensure diversity and therefore security of supply.