The LNG Connections

Whose Gas Will Europe Import Now? The Choice Matters; Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has brought instability, violence, and human tragedy on a massive scale, with effects rippling across the continent and globally.

March 18, 2022 (Rocky Mountain Institute via Clean Technica)

“..One-fourth of Europe’s energy comes from natural gas, nearly 45 percent of which is imported from Russia…[W]hich alternatives they choose will have significant climate implications…The EU is accelerating its shift to alternative energy sources such as renewables to supplant its large natural gas appetite…[Germany froze the Nord Stream 2] 1,200 kilometer gas pipeline from Russia to Germany…[and] announced plans to rapidly build out terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG)…[as] international oil companies including BP, Shell, and ExxonMobil are making plans to divest their holdings in Russia…LNG/CNG has long been positioned as a ‘bridge’ to transition the world away from coal. Russia’s war in Ukraine, however, underscores that it is not a stable bridge…

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…[M]ethane (the main component of LNG) is a dangerous driver of climate change…[T]he EU currently imports one-half of its LNG from the United States (26 percent) and Qatar (24 percent). Moves are afoot to replaced Russia’s pipeline with a US and Qatari LNG one…[T]ransporting gas through Russian pipelines is three times more climate intensive than shipping it from the United States…[because fossil] fuel systems often leak methane (especially in Russia)…Operations that leak even small amounts of planet-warming methane can be even more detrimental to the climate than coal…Sourcing less emissions-intensive gas buys time in the short term as the world transforms the global energy system to secure a clean, prosperous, zero-carbon future…” click here for more

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