El gas natural como fuente de energía transitoria hacia la descarbonización del sector energético

Mariuxi Viviana Ruiz Arana, Andrés Alexander De La Torre Macías, Enrique Xavier Tandazo Delgado, Génesis Belén Olvera Menoscal

Resumen


El presente artículo de revisión bibliográfica tiene como objetivo analizar de manera crítica el papel del gas natural como fuente de energía transitoria en el proceso de descarbonización del sector energético. En un contexto marcado por la urgencia climática se examinan las ventajas, limitaciones y controversias asociadas al uso del gas natural frente a otras fuentes energéticas. La metodología empleada consistió en una revisión sistemática de literatura científica publicada entre 2019 y 2025, utilizando bases de datos indexadas como Scopus, Web of Science y ScienceDirect. Los resultados se organizaron por subsectores de aplicación. En el transporte, el gas natural vehicular (GNV) mostró reducciones de hasta 25 % en CO₂ y más del 30 % en contaminantes locales, aunque su expansión está limitada por infraestructura insuficiente. En generación eléctrica, las plantas de ciclo combinado alcanzan eficiencias superiores al 60 % con una huella de carbono 50 % menor respecto al carbón. El uso domiciliario aporta mejoras en la calidad del aire urbano, aunque persisten emisiones fugitivas de metano. El gas natural licuado (GNL), si bien permite diversificación energética, presenta una huella de carbono variable debido a la licuefacción, transporte y regasificación. Finalmente, en el sector industrial, el gas natural es clave para procesos intensivos en energía y para la producción de hidrógeno azul, aunque se proyecta un desplazamiento progresivo hacia el hidrógeno verde. En conclusión, los hallazgos sugieren que el gas natural puede desempeñar un rol relevante como vector transitorio hacia una matriz energética más limpia, siempre que se implementen políticas de mitigación de emisiones y se limite su papel a escenarios de transición con una clara orientación hacia la sustitución por energías renovables.


Palabras clave


Gas natural; descarbonización; GNL; ciclo combinado.

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Referencias


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.23857/pc.v10i6.9823

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