The largest US LNG exporter wants to define emission rules

Cheniere Energy Inc. Chief Executive Jack Fusco wants the largest U.S. gas exporter to set the rules for measuring the environmental impact of liquefied natural gas, using a fleet of methane-tracking technologies and the company’s influence as a major consumer of natural gas nation. combustible.

Cheniere collects data using satellite imagery, helicopters, drones, fixed sensors and tracking emissions from lidar, or detecting and measuring light, Fusco said in an interview last week at the Gastech summit in Houston. In 2022, the company began listing emissions data associated with each contract load from two export plants in Louisiana and Texas.

“Society wants a cleaner fuel source. And our challenge is to make sure we’re not only keeping up, we’re leading,” Fusco said.

Tracking emissions for the U.S. supercooled fuel is key to meeting demand from European buyers as European Union lawmakers work on regulations to cut methane — the main component of natural gas — from imported energy sources. Cheniere already adheres to a United Nations-led program to measure methane, which the European Commission cited in the proposed regulations. Proponents of establishing ways to track LNG emissions say that ultimately determining how to standardize a system will have ripple effects on LNG buyers and sellers worldwide.

But environmental organizations and researchers have rejected the methods used to track the methane. Cornell University professor Robert Howarth authored a study released in late 2023 that reignited the battle over how much LNG contributes to global emissions, saying natural gas is “no better for the climate than coal” . The Biden administration continues to study LNG’s environmental impact and suspended permitting for new projects in January.

With the U.S. set to double its LNG export capacity by the end of the decade, Cheniere says he expects to be ahead of other non-emissions-tracking LNG exporters and aims to use his leverage as the nation’s top gas consumer to global set. the standards.

Fusco unexpectedly compared Cheniere’s position to Whole Foods’ methane pursuit, referring to the grocer becoming the first national retailer of certified organic foods and thus setting industry standards.

“They set the rules of the road and then used their purchasing power to make sure people followed them,” Fusco said of the grocer. “We’re getting there. But as you know, we buy a lot of gas.”

Photo: The liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker Aristidis I berthed at the Cheniere Liquefaction Facility (CCL) in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, Monday, December 4, 2023.

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.

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