[ad_1]
“More than 600 million people in Africa lack basic energy.So how do we meet their energy baseload? This can only be achieved through gas” Chief Timipre Sylva, then Nigeria’s Minister of National Petroleum Resources, 2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, has taught the West nothing except proving the inherent value of natural gas.
As expectations rise for oil’s superior capabilities (what’s going on with the electric vehicle revolution?), gas is poised to meet ever-increasing energy demands while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat climate change. This shows that it is the world’s most valuable energy resource, which is trying to meet the demands of the world.
For example, gas, which generates the primary 40% of electricity in the United States, is used not only as a low-cost, reliable, and clean energy source, but also to back up increasing intermittent wind power generation and stabilize the power grid. is clearly becoming more and more essential. The introduction of solar power into the power system.
Our alarm bells that “no matter what climate policies are passed, we’re going to need more natural gas” have thankfully begun even for the most energy ignorant of us.
And, well, there are a lot of them.
This is true even for the richest and most developed countries, which have developed the most “progressive” energy policies to “fight climate change.”
European governments, for example, have formally adopted the reality that “natural gas is green” to ensure climate-conscious private investors seeking to develop gas infrastructure, stating that “if you want to invest in natural gas, you can We will support you.”
Sadly, Putin’s war failed, but even the most climate-fixated countries are struggling with wind and solar power, especially when it comes to replacing reliable, available, and clean natural gas. are increasingly realizing that they are much more of a supplement than an alternative.
For example, countries like Germany, desperately pursuing a “green” economy, are pivoting to wind and solar power and installing as many liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facilities as possible. This is very instructive since Germany is a global engineering powerhouse and should have everything. Resources to introduce the inevitable “green revolution” we constantly hear about.
I thought I would be proven right. The natural limits of wind and solar power are watering down Europe’s climate goals, even by the most ambitious climate hawks.
The International Energy Agency has made even the most stringent climate change policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions until it jumps the shark (shout out Fonz!) and begins promoting unrealistic (and dangerous) energy dreams. And even has increased global gas consumption for many years.
Why not? His CO2 emissions of gas are up to 65% lower than coal and 30% lower than oil.
The current global LNG market is around 55 Bcf/d, and demand has long been expected to grow by 4-7% annually.
However, even this may be a significant underestimate. For example, much lower than what we saw in 2022, $2 gas in the US, $8 gas in Europe, and $10 gas in Asia as recently seen, locking in more gas infrastructure. Masu. Hence the usage.
For example, Africa, which is severely energy poor, has put natural gas at the center of its “more energy” strategy.
So the end result here is very clear. Where do we want the world’s natural gas to come from?
The United States is the world’s largest gas producer at 107 Bcf per day, while Russia produces only about two-thirds of that.
We are also currently the world’s largest LNG exporter (14-15 Bcf/d), and already approved projects could nearly double export volumes by 2028.
And sure, the Biden administration is making a climate, energy, political, economic, and security blunder by suspending new U.S. LNG approvals, but that’s not exactly the focus of this article.
This is about how “the world’s cleanest gas” should be promoted.
The U.S. gas industry is working to certify that this irreplaceable modern fuel is produced and transported in the most greenhouse gas-minimizing manner (i.e., responsibly sourced gas). We continue to work to obtain more certified gas using third-party certification bodies (such as MiQ and Project Canary). ).
The Biden-Harris administration just finalized the toughest methane reduction standards yet for the U.S. gas industry, including imposing hefty fees on large emitters.
The U.S. gas industry is looking to gain a competitive advantage, especially against systems with significantly higher leakages and rival exporters like Russia, to reach a growing number of climate-sensitive buyers. We will always be trying to reduce emissions.
Additionally, the gas industry’s goals to strengthen its ESG profile (to gain access to more capital) require it to be “as clean as possible.” This is natural because leaked methane loses product and therefore revenue (the main component of natural gas). methane, usually at least 90%)
As a simple example, the Energy Institute’s World Energy Statistics Review 2023 reports that the United States produces about 25% of the world’s gas but accounts for just 6% of the flaring from gas. Russia produces 15% of the world’s gas, but accounts for 18% of the gas flaring (see figure).
Reducing emissions was the reason that U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm supported our nation’s LNG exports from the beginning of her tenure.
The US National Energy Technology Institute, one of the world’s most advanced scientific institutions, has concluded that Russian gas piped to Europe has up to 22% more GHG emissions than European coal. Ta.
In stark contrast, U.S. LNG supplied to Europe produces up to 56% fewer total emissions than European coal.
And even all of this may be underestimating how clean the U.S. gas distribution system really is.
The Russian government has long been notorious for not allowing emissions measurements from its gas sector.
Russia apparently operates a leaky, outdated, and unregulated system that emits large amounts of fugitive methane emissions, perhaps five to eight times more than the U.S. system.
This is a huge problem in the fight against climate change because any reduction or restriction in gas production and/or exports within the United States will only be compensated for by production and/or exports elsewhere.
And the environmental standards of these global gas suppliers (Putin’s Forum of Gas Exporting Countries) are certainly much lower than those here in the United States.
Europe especially relies on the United States for cleaner gas to cut off supplies from Russia, which Putin supplied with 40 to 45 percent of Europe’s gas before invading Ukraine about two years ago. was.
Even on the left politiko The atmosphere has just been cleared that “the United States is reconsidering gas exports, surprising Europe.”
A number of new large-scale projects are planned to export LNG from the west coasts of Canada and Mexico, with the advantage of shorter and therefore cheaper travel times compared to U.S. projects along the Gulf Coast. Therefore, those shipments will obviously be destined for Asia. It has to go through the Panama Canal.
Without the United States, increased global LNG supplies would go to energy-starved Asia, potentially literally leaving Europe in the dark.
Europe’s gas storage infrastructure is far from adequate, covering only a third of winter demand, so we need more LNG facilities to help our European friends, especially in winter.
We have been very fortunate that recent winters have been warmer than usual, but eventually that luck will run out and America’s cleaner natural gas will be needed more than ever.
follow me twitter.
[ad_2]
Source link