Introduction-Contextualization & Background.

The European Union is rapidly increasing its imports of liquefied natural gas, the majority of which is fracked in the United States, in order to replace piped Russian gas.

The arrival of liquified natural gas tankers carrying fracked gas from the United States in northern Germany is being described as a significant setback by environmental activists. The replacement for Russian gas will be four German LNG terminals. Because this country is the largest importer of LNG in the world, many people are concerned that it will not go away.

What’s LNG?

    • Liquefaction at -161 degrees Celsius (-259 Fahrenheit) turns natural gas into LNG. This liquid gas is 600 times smaller and half the weight of water.

    • The compressed fossil fuel, mostly methane, can be shipped around the world.

    • After arriving, cargo is regasified in a floating terminal and distributed via pipelines.

    • LNG exports are limited by the high cost of liquefaction and production.

    • Due to higher operating and infrastructure costs, Germany’s floating LNG terminals to replace Russian gas have doubled in cost.

    • Energy is needed for cooling, liquefying, transport, and post-transport regasification. Liquefaction loses 10–25% of gas energy.

Issues And Implications

    • The “very high imported emissions intensity” of LNG can be attributed to its many stages, which is in contrast to the upstream, transport, and processing emissions associated with piped gas.

    • Concerns According to the opinions of various experts, LNG releases almost ten times the amount of carbon dioxide as piped gas does.

    • Piped Norwegian gas emits nearly ten times fewer greenhouse gases than LNG does.

    • Liquefied natural gas (LNG) produces 14 times the amount of carbon that solar power does, and 50 times the amount that wind power does.

    • It takes a significant amount of energy to remove natural gas from a reservoir, transport it to the LNG facility where it will be processed, chill it to such low temperatures, and hold it at that temperature before warming it and regasifying it after a lengthy journey by sea or train.

    • Methane leakage in the supply chain contributes significantly to the volume of LNG’s overall emissions.

    • Because the chain of production, transport, and regasification for LNG is more complicated, methane leakages are more likely to occur and result in a greater amount of emissions.

    • Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is responsible for “about twice as much greenhouse gas as ordinary natural gas,”

 Initiatives – “Structural & functional initiatives taken”

    • According to those who study climate change, the floating LNG terminals that are about to become operational in Germany and that are already in operation in the Netherlands, France, and Belgium cannot be converted into green hydrogen infrastructure.

    • The claim that H2 is ready is not true.These plants burn fossil fuels and contribute to climate change.

    • In order to hasten the transition to cleaner forms of energy, LNG terminals need to be easily adaptable to produce green hydrogen.

Innovation -“The way ahead”

    • By the end of the decade, German gas imports could cost €200 billion ($212 billion), which would cause consumer gas bills to double.

    • The energy gap might be filled by renewable sources of power that are less expensive.

    • The energy transition is “turbocharged” with improvements to the energy efficiency of buildings and the installation of electric heat pumps.

    • The overcapacity of the LNG infrastructure and the long-term regasification contracts at German LNG ports may result in stranded assets and a delay in the phase-out of fossil fuels.

    • The planned terminals have the potential to increase capacity by two-thirds more than the amount consumed on a national level.This would be in violation of both the Paris Agreement and the German government’s climate targets. 

    • According to the opinions of various experts, a longterm solution to the gas shortages in Russia can be found in energy efficiency and renewable power.”Germany is able to save more gas through increased building efficiency than through the construction of new LNG terminals.