From the Editor: Is the climate case for LNG exports growing? [Gas in Transition]

From the Editor: Is the climate case for LNG exports growing? [Gas in Transition]

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Natural Gas News
From the Editor: Is the climate case for LNG exports growing? [Gas in Transition]

Summary

It is, but it is not clear cut, and the idea that there is no push back from environmental organisations holds little water. However, if the priority is to stop still-rising global coal use, LNG exports are a mighty big weapon to leave unused. [Gas in Transition, Volume 3, Issue 4] by: Ross McCracken

In June 2021, a study with the cumbersome title Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from LNG exports from North America’s West Coast for Coal-Displaced Electricity Generation in Asia looked at the entire life cycle emissions of producing LNG from Rocky Mountain gas fields in the US and exporting it to coal-dependent economies in Asia. It concluded that such exports would result in net lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions of between 42%-55%, if the exported LNG were used to displace coal-fired generation. The range of values reflected assessments for China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, with China providing the lowest value (42%) and South Korea the highest (54.8%). The study found that 22.8mn mt/yr of exported LNG would displace 3.3% of coal-fired electricity gene...