Natural gas supporting the development of renewables Natural gas is an important part of the global effort to reduce emissions, particularly as a partner to variable renewable energy – the fastest growing sources of power in power grids across the world. Natural gas generated power is important as it can respond quickly to changes in solar and wind supply, such as on cloudy or still days, therefore helping to maintain reliable electricity supply to customers. This certainty of supply is particularly important to manufacturers and other energy intensive industries. Other technologies that can play a role in firming variable renewables are pumped hydro and batteries.