[ Lng ]
[ Lng ]
Outlook The LNG industry has seen a massive surge in capacity in recent years . The USA has stepped up exports to Europe to fill the gap left by the cessation of gas piped from Russia . The USA and Qatar have emerged as the top producers , pushing Australia into third place . Like Europe , Asia is also upping its import capacity as it hopes to replace coal with LNG . However , there are fears that the market could become flooded . This depends on the state of the world economy and how various geopolitical tensions play out ; also , on the speed of the transition to renewables , which is proceeding rapidly in Europe , meaning that its dependence on LNG could decrease . In February Shell optimistically stated that global demand for LNG would increase by more than 50 % by 2040 ( 1 ); however , in April the IEEFA noted sluggish demand and warned of oversupply within two years , with European demand decreasing between 2023 and 2030 ( 2 ). Demand for natural gas seems already to have slowed , and natural gas prices have descended from the record highs of late 2021 to 2022 .
Other challenges Two other concerns darken the LNG picture : safety and emissions . In June 2022 there was an explosion at the Freeport terminal in Texas after a blocked pipe valve caused a build-up of pressure and a leakage . Investigators reported that staff were overworked and tired , leading to defects being overlooked , and that the regulatory regime was decades-old and inadequately enforced ( 3 ). This incident has revived discussion about exactly how safe LNG is . When hydrocarbons are released , they form a fine mist or vapour cloud that can explode when trapped in a confined space or whenever the wind is still . It is not only methane that is a hazard , but also refrigerants , a potentially
Artist ’ s rendering of Cedar LNG in the territories of the Haisla Nation , British Columbia , Canada , with the proposed facility next to a docked LNG carrier .
Explicit ApS uses a drone to measure methane emissions in the exhaust plume of a ship while TNO measures in the exhaust stack from the engine room . Photo : Explicit ApS .
explosive cocktail of methane , ethane , propane and other light hydrocarbons , sometimes with the addition of nitrogen . The Freeport accident did not cause any injuries or deaths , but previous accidents have . The most serious occurred in 1944 in Cleveland , Ohio , when leaking gas caused an explosion killing 128 people . ( It was this accident that prompted the invention of 9 % nickel , as the Cleveland plant had been using low-nickel steel because of nickel shortages during World War 2 .) Other fatalities occurred in 1973 , at Staten Island , NY ( 37 dead ); 1979 , at Cove Point , Maryland ( one dead , one injured ); 2004 , in Skikda , Algeria ( 27 dead , 74 injured ); 2012 , in the Punto Fijo oil and LNG refinery in Venezuela ( 47 dead and 135 wounded ; it is not known if LNG was the gas that leaked ); and Toppenish , Washington ( 1 dead ). Residents near LNG terminals are on edge and there is considerable pressure to switch to safer forms of energy . As if this were not enough , it turns out that LNG is not the poster-boy transition fuel it was previously thought to be – at least not yet , and not in the USA . LNG produces lower CO 2 emissions than coal , but this is more than offset by methane leaks , which cause 80 % more warming than CO 2 in the first 20 years . So GHG emissions from LNG are overall much
16 Stainless Steel World December 2024 www . stainless-steel-world . net