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| The liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and port terminal in Thi Vai (capital of Phu My) which has just started operating is considered an engine of economic development for the province of Bà Ria-Vung Tàu. |
| Photo : VNA/CVN |
In 2024, global gas demand is expected to increase by more than 2.5% to a new all-time high, supported by LNG needs, according to the International Energy Agency.
Highly coveted in Europe which had to replace Russian gas in continental gas pipelines, LNG is also whetting appetites in growing Asian countries.
Cooled to -163°C to be liquefied, the gas takes up 600 times less space than in the gaseous state and can be easily transported by LNG ships.
Notorious leaks
The oil and gas industry hammers home: gas-fired power plants emit two and a half times fewer emissions than coal-fired power plants.
But scientists and climate advocates are calling for the entire gas and LNG production chain to be taken into account, not just the combustion balance.
The LNG trade involves several stages, some of which are very energy-intensive and therefore synonymous with CO emissions.2 : “It takes a lot of energy to extract it from the ground, liquefy it and transport it“, with variations which can be significant depending on the vessels used and the distance traveled, explains Patrick King, analyst at Rystad Energy.
Another problem: methane, the main component of gas, is notorious for its leaks: in wells, during extraction and production (flaring, voluntary methane releases), and during transport (gas pipelines, ships). However, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas whose warming potential is 28 times greater than that of CO2 over 100 years. And 86 times over twenty years.
The think tank IEEFA (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis) highlights the risk of “become encased in another emitting fuel“rather than investing in more renewable energy.”It would be better to go straight to the transition“, underlines Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, analyst.
Variable carbon footprints
| Located in Bouches-du-Rhône, the Fos-Cavaou LNG terminal, managed by Elengy, a subsidiary of Engie, recorded a utilization rate of 95% in 2022. Unheard of. |
| Photo : La Tribune/CVN |
LNG produces “more emissions across its entire value chain than gas transported by pipeline“, according to Patrick King.
Studies have also established that the climate balance of LNG could be “pire” than that of coal.
That of the American University of Cornell, published on October 3, concluded that LNG in the United States generated a greenhouse gas footprint 33% higher than that of coal, including production and transport, over a period of 20 years. Even over 100 years, LNG’s footprint is equal to or greater than that of coal.
The subject is debated. Another study published in June, from the analysis firm Rystad Energy, calculated that emissions from the LNG value chain were on average lower than those from coal-fired electricity production.
“Natural gas produced and liquefied in the United States and shipped to Asia on round-trip journeys of approximately 23,000 miles (37.000 km) could emit up to 50% less than the cleanest coal-fired power plants“, affirms this study.
Rystad points out, however, that there are “variations significatives“, depending on the LNG extraction basins, more or less efficient in methane control, and “uncertainties” linked to the monitoring of methane by satellites, which can still be improved.
For Jonathan Stern, emeritus researcher at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, determining the climate balance between gas and coal is “very complicated“. “This is a topic where you need to be sure you have independent, verified data, and most of the time we don’t have that data“.
AFP/VNA/CVN
