2024-04-25 07:00:03
LNG, liquefied natural gas, is obtained from the liquefaction of natural gas, at a temperature of -160 degrees. This energy-intensive process must be taken into account in the energy balance linked to the uses of this gas. Because if LNG is a widespread solution today to supplant the use of polluting fuels, such as fuel oil for example, in maritime transport, its impact on the climate and health must be studied over its entire life cycle. It is true that the combustion of LNG emits less CO2 than conventional fossil fuels, and its lower sulfur content gives it an advantage in terms of health effects.
However, several stages during its production, distribution and consumption undermine this assessment. Let’s start with its extraction. Made up of 95% methane, the latter is extracted from deposits, sometimes by hydraulic fracturing. This process, banned in France, consists of fracturing shale rocks to extract pockets of methane, a gas which is then recovered and which constitutes LNG. During this extraction, numerous methane leaks are observed. However, methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2, even if its lifespan in the atmosphere is shorter. Over a century, it is estimated that methane has a warming power approximately twenty times greater than CO2. Its release into the atmosphere is therefore a major factor in terms of ecological footprint. Then, leaks are also present during the gas distribution phase, which is most of the time regasified to be injected into existing gas pipeline networks. Finally, regarding the use of LNG for maritime propulsion, leaks have been observed and documented during its combustion in engines. In fact, part of the methane is not burned and is released into the atmosphere.
Thus, with regard to maritime transport, where the use of LNG is very widespread, the ecological balance of its use is, at best, a little better than that of the use of fuel oil. It is this very relative advantage which makes many associations say that LNG should not become a source of energy used on a massive scale and in the long term.
In France, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the European decision to do without gas from the East as quickly as possible, LNG imports have exploded. Today France imports large quantities of LNG from the United States, Qatar but also… Russia. These imports of LNG, which the government says is a transitional energy, have led to the massive development of infrastructure intended to ensure the imports and distribution of regasified gas throughout the territory.
Thus, it is urgent to decide on the uses that should be made of LNG, which is well suited for heating uses for example, so that this energy source does not create a new dependence on fossil energy, detriment of efforts linked to the energy transition.
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