Natural Gas Demand Forecasting Model Based on LASSO and Polynomial Models and Its Application: A Case Study of China

Abstract

China aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and achieve peak carbon and carbon neutrality goals. Natural gas, as a high-quality fossil fuel energy, is an important transition resource for China in the process of carbon reduction, so it is necessary to predict China’s natural gas demand. In this paper, a novel natural gas demand combination forecasting model is constructed to accurately predict the future natural gas demand. The Lasso model and the polynomial model are used to build a combinatorial model, which overcomes the shortcomings of traditional models, which have low data dimensions and poor prediction abilities. In the modeling process, the cross-validation method is used to adjust the modeling parameters. By comparing the performance of the combinatorial forecasting model, the single forecasting model and other commonly used forecasting models, the results show that the error (2.99%) of the combinatorial forecasting model is the smallest, which verifies the high accuracy and good stability advantages of the combinatorial forecasting model. Finally, the paper analyzes the relevant data from 1999 to 2022 and predicts China’s natural gas demand in the next 10 years. The results show that the annual growth rate of China’s natural gas demand in the next 10 years will reach 13.33%, at 8.3 × 1011 m3 in 2033, which proves that China urgently needs to rapidly develop the gas supply capacity of gas supply enterprises. This study integrates the impact of multiple factors on the natural gas demand, predicts China’s natural gas demand from 2023 to 2033, and provides decision-making support for China’s energy structure adjustment and natural gas import trade.