Liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada can further boost the carbon-cutting benefits of LNG, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2019 World Energy Outlook.
“The International Energy Agency’s recognition of the contribution B.C.’s LNG facilities can make to maximizing reductions in emissions when switching from coal to natural gas underlines the importance of British Columbia being a leader in low-carbon LNG,” said Bryan Cox, president and CEO of the BC LNG Alliance. “The world needs an abundance of lower carbon options now to help reduce global emissions, and LNG from B.C. can help meet that need.”
The IEA’s flagship report highlights LNG facilities powered by low-carbon electricity as eliminating nearly all the emissions associated with liquefaction, which leads to a 40 per cent average reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from coal-to-gas switching for the production of heat, compared to a 30 per cent reduction for facilities that are not powered by low-carbon electricity.
The report cites British Columbia’s in-construction LNG Canada project, and the proposed Woodfibre LNG and Kitimat LNG projects.
The IEA report also highlights that in 2018, on a life cycle basis, natural gas from all sources resulted in 33 per cent fewer CO2 emissions on average than coal per unit of heat used in the industry and buildings sectors, and 50 per cent fewer emissions than coal per unit of electricity generated.
Coal to-gas switching is also able to provide citizens with cleaner air to breathe because it has almost none of the fine particulate matter that contributes to air pollution that coal does.
Read the full report here: World Energy Outlook 2019
