Explained | What is Liquified Natural Gas and how is it contributing to Climate Change? 

By Aaysuhi Sharma

Recently, India and Russia signed an MoU on energy cooperation. The MoU envisages long-term Liquified Natural Gas delivery from Russia to India. Novatek, Russia’s largest LNG supplier has signed deals with many Indian companies including GAIL. 

The European Union is also expanding its imports of Liquified Natural Gas from the US. This move is to reduce the dependency on piped Russian Gas. The first regular shipment of liquefied natural gas from the United States arrived in Germany in early January as a part of a wide-reaching effort to help the country replace energy supplies that it earlier received from Russia.  

The imported LNG which is obtained by the process of fracking has raised several climatic concerns. Climate activists call it a major disappointment in the effort to limit global heating. LNG creates almost 10 times more emissions than piped gas and its rapid expansion will likely compromise climate targets. There is a need to understand the potential climate risks associated with LNG. 

What is Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)? 

Natural Gas is a non-renewable, fossil fuel energy source. Natural gas is formed when millions of years old remains of plants and animals get stacked in dense layers on the earth’s surface and ocean floors. Pressure and heat inside the layers change some of this carbon and hydrogen-rich material into natural gas. Methane (CH₄) is the largest component of Natural Gas. 

This image shows the process of fracking for the extraction of natural gas.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid state (liquefied), at about -260° Fahrenheit, for shipping and storage. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), The volume of natural gas in its liquid state is about 600 times smaller than its volume in its gaseous state in a natural gas pipeline. This liquefaction process, developed in the 19th century, makes it possible to transport natural gas to places natural gas pipelines do not reach and to use the gas as a transportation fuel. LNG is a way to move natural gas from producing regions to international markets.  

How is LNG transported?

Natural gas is received through pipelines in LNG export facilities. They then liquefy the gas for transport. Most LNG is transported by tankers called LNG carriers in large, onboard, super-cooled (cryogenic) tanks. LNG is also transported in smaller International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-compliant containers that can be placed on ships and on trucks.

The image shows LNG transported by ISO-certified tankers. 

Image source: https://www.lngglobal.com/iso-lng-containers

At import terminals, LNG is offloaded from ships and is stored in cryogenic storage tanks before it is again regasified for use. After the process of regasification is completed, the natural gas is transported by natural gas pipelines to natural gas-fired power plants, industrial facilities, and residential and commercial customers.  Asian countries combined account for the largest share of global LNG imports.

The process of cooling, liquefying, transport, and post-transport regasification procedures, need a lot of energy. Despite LNG’s export potential, the high cost of liquefaction and producing LNG has limited its market.  According to Andy Gheorghiu, it is estimated that around 10-25% of the energy of the gas is getting lost during the liquefaction process. 

What are the climate impacts of LNG?

High energy requirement: A lot of energy is required to extract natural gas from a reservoir, transport it from the gas field to the LNG facility for processing, chill gas to such low temperatures, and hold it at that temperature before it is warmed and regasified following a long sea or train journey.

Methane leakage: Methane loss across the supply chain risks also contributes to LNG’s high emissions. “Because of LNG’s much more complex production and transport process, the risks of methane leakages along the production, transport, and regasification chain are simply much higher and therefore much more emissions-intensive,” said Gheorghiu. According to NDRC, leaks and intentional releases of methane, which is a potent GHG, during the extraction and transport of the LNG can constitute up to 14 percent of LNG’s life-cycle emissions. 

Polluter gas:  LNG emissions are about twice as much greenhouse gas as ordinary natural gas, according to Natural Resources Defence Council (NDRC). The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the extraction, transport, liquefaction, and re-gasification of LNG can be almost equal to the emissions produced from the actual burning of the gas, effectively doubling the climate impact of each unit of energy created from gas transported overseas.

How are LNG exports a threat to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change?

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, member countries attempt to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. 

In its COP27 update,  it is calculated that the CO2 emissions from all the under-construction, approved, and proposed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production projects between 2021 and 2050,  could add up to around 10% of the remaining global carbon budget for 1.5˚C warming by mid-century. 

Thus, exporting LNG will not help meet the global goal of holding warming at or below 1.5 °C, and it will have devastating effects on frontline communities.