LNG under Detailed Investigation
LNG is not a panacea to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and its increasing use as a marine fuel could be worse for the environment than burning heavy fuel oil, says Ian Adams, the former CEO of the International Bunker Industry Association.
In stark contrast to media reports claiming that the use of LNG as a marine fuel can reduce the industry’s CO2 emissions by 75 percent, he says: “Whilst it is well documented that LNG is an excellent solution for reducing SOx and NOx emissions, I am dismayed to see it being promoted as a solution for reducing GHGs,” MANA correspondent reported.
Adams further said: “It is a complete falsehood to suggest, as Reuters has, that ‘global efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions will be key for the adoption of LNG as a marine fuel’.”
Adams, a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology who now heads the Association of Bulk Terminal Operators, said: “The energy content of LNG is slightly more than half that of fuel oil, so to extract the same energy output when consuming LNG rather than fuel oil it is necessary to consume almost twice the volume of LNG.
There is another important consideration, he says: LNG is principally methane. “With methane recognized as a GHG and widely considered to be twenty-five times more harmful than CO2, it would only require a four percent slip through the supply chain to equal the CO2 emissions from the industry’s current consumption of heavy fuel oil.