Gas pipelines and city gas: Technology advances

Hydrogen-ready pipes, electric compressors and leak-spotting satellites

What this tab covers The newest technologies in service or close to adoption, what each improves, and how the main options compare.

The newest work is less about moving more gas and more about cutting leaks, electrifying compressors and preparing pipes to carry hydrogen or biomethane.

Latest advances

Repurposing gas pipes for hydrogen being deployed · 2024 approval, completion by 2032

Germany's regulator approved a 9,040 km hydrogen core network in which about 60% is converted natural gas pipeline¹²¹³

Improves: Reuses rights of way and steel, cutting cost and permitting time; investment put at 18.9 billion euros

Electric compressor drives in service · ongoing

Electric motors replace gas turbines or engines driving compressors where grid power is available¹²⁴

Improves: Removes combustion and methane slip at the station; motors are about 95% efficient against about 35% for gas turbines (vendor figures; the overall gain depends on how the power is generated)

Satellite detection of large leaks in service · 2025

Satellites spot super-emitting events and alerts are sent to governments and operators (UNEP MARS system)⁷

Improves: IEA estimates acting on alerts on time could cut about 6 Mt of methane

Measurement-based leak surveys of city mains demonstration · 2020

Mobile methane measurements across many cities used to estimate leak rates by pipe age and material⁸

Improves: Finds leaks inventories miss and prioritises replacing the leakiest old mains

Biomethane injection into gas grids in service · 2025

Upgraded biogas fed into transmission and distribution networks³⁷

Improves: 43.2 TWh injected into European grids in the gas year to September 2025, up about 12%

Comparing the options

Option	Efficiency	Cost	Capacity or distance	Maturity
Onshore pipeline¹⁰²¹	About 2 to 3% of gas burned per 1,000 km	Average build cost about 2.8 million USD per km for lines under construction in 2023 (calculated)	Up to tens of bcm per year per line	mature
Offshore pipeline²¹	Similar per km; no re-boost possible mid-sea, so higher inlet pressure	Higher than onshore per km; depends on water depth	Similar to onshore	mature
LNG shipping²¹	Liquefaction alone uses roughly 9 to 15% of the energy (calculated)	High fixed cost at each end, low cost per extra km	Flexible, any coast with a terminal	mature

Pipelines win on efficiency, and usually on cost, over land and short sea crossings, because they avoid the energy and capital cost of liquefaction. LNG wins over long ocean routes and lets buyers switch suppliers. The crossover distance depends on volume, terrain and sea depth, so published figures are rough guides.

Sources

Understanding Natural Gas Compressor Stations Penn State Extension, 2015
Global Methane Tracker 2026: Key findings IEA, 2026
A National Estimate of Methane Leakage from Pipeline Mains in Natural Gas Local Distribution Systems (Weller, Hamburg and von Fischer), Environmental Science and Technology 54, 8958-8967 American Chemical Society, 2020
Global gas pipeline expansion: nearly US$200 billion under construction, with Asia building over 80% Global Energy Monitor, 2023
Bundesnetzagentur approves hydrogen core network Bundesnetzagentur, 2024
Hydrogen core network FNB Gas, 2026
Analysis of the greenhouse gas intensities of LNG imports to Germany (Munter and Liebich), final report ifeu for Wissenschaftsplattform Klimaschutz, 2023
The future of LNG: electrification, innovation and efficiency ABB, 2025
ENTSOG Report on Annual Renewable Gas Injections into Gas Networks 2026 ENTSOG, 2026