Cracking the Last Mile: Global Models for City Gas Distribution

City gas networks have scaled successfully in Japan, Italy and the UK, where dense demand and stable regulation made the economics work. Emerging economies are now extending piped gas to homes, industry and transport, and the global market is expected to grow significantly over the next decade. However, cracking the last mile economics remains a challenge, hindering this expansion. Low-density demand, high connection costs and competition from electricity all weaken returns. Pricing, cross-subsidy, infrastructure cost and clear regulation will determine how far networks can realistically extend. The discussion will focus on challenges and enablers to reach the last mile, without breaking the economics that fund the rest of the network.