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[waldron] 22/7/2018 10:13

3 Natural Gas & Climate Myths

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July 21st, 2018 by Guest Contributor

Originally published on The Climate Reality Project.

Flaring natural gas (imf.org)

Fossil fuels (all of them!) are the energy of the past. With new technologies like wind, solar, and advanced batteries in our hands, we can power today and tomorrow with clean, reliable energy that doesn’t harm our health and destroy our planet.

Natural gas is a growing energy source – one many are putting a lot of faith in.

Proponents like to portray the fuel as a cuddlier cousin to coal and oil when it comes to climate because it generates less carbon dioxide when burned. But its CO2 emissions are only one piece of a far more nuanced puzzle.

Many of the arguments in support of natural gas are based on outdated or incorrect information – sometimes going so far as to border on wishful thinking. That’s why we’re setting the record straight on some of the most common myths about natural gas and our climate.
Natural Gas Will Not Solve The Climate Crisis

When people make this argument, they’re (mostly) referring to one thing, in particular, that is indeed true of natural gas: a new, efficient natural gas power plant emits around 50 percent less carbon dioxide (CO2) during combustion when compared with a typical coal-based power plant, according to the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

To be sure, we should take seriously any source of energy that reduces our dependence on coal and oil, the primary sources of the carbon emissions that drive climate change. But let’s also engage in some real talk: 50 percent less CO2 also isn’t zero CO2, and CO2 isn’t the only harmful emission generated by natural gas development.

We’re still talking about a fossil fuel here, one that still contributes to climate change when burned. And achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the second half of this century is essential to the long-term health of our planet.

That number also doesn’t take into account all of the carbon emissions that happen across the full life cycle of natural gas, particularly during extraction, infrastructure construction, transport, and storage. But rather than dwell, let’s just get straight to the real climate Big Bad when it comes to natural gas – methane.

Methane is a very, very powerful greenhouse gas. In the atmosphere, compared to carbon, it’s fairly short-lived: only about 20 percent of the methane emitted today will still be in the atmosphere after 20 years. However, when it first enters the atmosphere, it’s around 120 times more powerful than CO2 at trapping heat and 86 times stronger over a 20 year period.

(Carbon dioxide hangs around for much longer: As much as 15 percent of today’s carbon dioxide will still be in the atmosphere in 10,000 years.)

And a lot of the methane that ends up in the atmosphere comes from natural gas production.

“The drilling and extraction of natural gas from wells and its transportation in pipelines result in the leakage of methane,” Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) notes. “Preliminary studies and field measurements show that these so-called ‘fugitive̵7; methane emissions range from 1 to 9 percent of total life cycle emissions.”

(When we talk about “total life-cycle emissions,” we’re talking all emissions from the source, including those leaked during its extraction, transportation, and more, and not just what is emitted when a fuel source is burned to create energy.)

If you’re thinking, “The difference between 1 and 9 percent is a pretty big deal,” you’re absolutely right. It’s also an exceptionally important metric when talking about the relative value of natural gas in the climate fight. For a natural gas power plant to have lower extraction of natural gas than a coal plant (as proponents keep claiming is the benefit), the entire system’s methane leakage must be kept below 3.2 percent.

Natural Gas Is Not Environmentally Friendly

We need to be very clear here: Natural gas is not a clean form of energy. Cleaner than coal? Sure – but that’s not saying a heck of a lot. Clean like solar or wind? Get out of here!

To start, the extraction process is rife with potential problems. Much of our natural gas comes through the process of hydraulic fracturing – aka “fracking.R21; In this process, companies drill boreholes deep into the earth and inject liquid into the subterranean rock at very high pressure. This forces open rock fissures and release gas from within the rock or reservoirs below.

In particular, fracking can contaminate groundwater supplies if it’s not done properly.

Fracked gas is typically found pretty deep in the earth – much further down than the water table. But the boreholes carrying the gas back up to the surface travel straight through the water-bearing rocks, called aquifers, from which many of us get our water. The injected fracking fluid often contains dangerous chemicals that no one would want to drink – and if the borehole is not properly cased, those chemicals can escape into groundwater.

And it’s important to remember that natural gas development is itself far from pollution-free.

“Some areas where drilling occurs have experienced increases in concentrations of hazardous air pollutants and two of the six criteria pollutants — particulate matter and ozone plus its precursors — regulated by the EPA because of their harmful effects on health and the environment,” the Union of Concerned Scientists reports. “Exposure to elevated levels of these air pollutants can lead to adverse health outcomes, including respiratory symptoms, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.”

Exposure to these pollutants can be particularly damaging to very young children.

“Given the profound sensitivity of the developing brain and the central nervous system, it is very reasonable to conclude that young children who experience frequent exposure to these pollutants are at particularly high risk for chronic neurological problems and disease,” the Center for Environmental Health’s Ellen Webb, a researcher on the neurological and neurodevelopmental effects of chemicals linked to unconventional oil and gas operations, told the Guardian last year.
Natural Gas Is A Bridge To Nowhere

The conversation over natural gas’ value as a “bridge fuel” is a fraught one. Supporters claim that it’s a better alternative to coal that will carry us until renewables like wind and solar can fully power the grid. But let us ask you this: Would you take a bridge at all if there was no river, ravine, or other obstacle you had to cross?

That’s to say, we already have zero or near-zero carbon-emitting energy sources that are preferable to coal, oil, and natural gas. Residential and utility-scale wind, solar, and geothermal energy are up and running and getting better every day – and they’re increasingly cost-competitive with energy produced by fossil fuels. Right now.

Yale Climate Connections makes the stakes plain: “Although it might not be practical to replace all coal plants with renewables immediately, it’s definitely possible to do so in the next decade if renewables continue to fall in price.”

The article goes on to highlight the real danger of the bridge fuel fallacy: “If we replace coal with gas today, we’ve sunk costs into new gas infrastructure that we might be loath to replace a few years later with renewables. In this way, a gas bridge could delay the widespread adoption of renewables.”

If natural gas expansion comes at the expense of renewables, the greenhouse gas emissions threat to our climate continues. And there’s already plenty of evidence that overemphasizing gas really does siphon investment away from renewable energy sources that produce truly clean power.

The bottom line is that natural gas is still a fossil fuel, and simply shifting from coal to it won’t keep the US on track to meet its emissions reduction goals, even if methane leakages are reined in.

So rather than make an unnecessary, temporary wholesale switch to natural gas, the smarter tactic would be to phase out coal while moving straight to utility-scale renewable energy – something that is totally doable.

Listen, we get it: Fossil fuels helped power the Industrial Revolution and helped shape the past two centuries. But they’re just that – the energy of the past. With new technologies like wind, solar, and advanced batteries in our hands, we can power today and tomorrow with clean, reliable energy that doesn’t harm our health and destroy our planet.

It’s just that simple.

[adrian j boris] 12/7/2018 07:07

UK Natural gas-fired power plants to set near record this summer

Written by L.M. Sixel for the Houston Chronicle - 12/07/2018 6:00 am

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Natural gas-fired power plants are expected to supply 37 percent of the nation’s electricity generation this summer, near the record set two years ago, the Energy Department reported Wednesday.

At the same time, the share of generation from coal-fired power plants will drop to 30 percent, continuing a trend over the past few years of less reliance on coal-fired power generation.

The move away from coal-fired power stems from low natural gas prices, an increase in natural gas-fired power plant capacity and the retirement of coal-fired units, the government reported. The cost of natural gas delivered to electric generators averaged $3.16 per million British thermal units between 2015 and 2017 compared to $7.69 per million British thermal units between 2006 and 2008.

Power plant operators added 5.4 gigawatts of new natural gas-fired generating capacity during the first four months and an additional 15 gigawatts are scheduled to come online by the end of the year, marking the biggest one-year increase in capacity since 2004.

This article first appeared on the Houston Chronicle – an Energy Voice content partner

[maywillow] 11/7/2018 21:10

Shell, Nigeria to Develop Natural Gas Projects Worth $3.7 Bln
July 11, 2018, 02:19:20 PM EDT By MT Newswires, MT Newswires

Shutterstock photo

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) has reportedly signed an agreement with Nigeria's state-run oil company and two other groups to develop natural gas projects worth $3.7 billion, as part of the country's initiatives in dealing with a pending domestic fuel shortage, according to media reports on Wednesday.

The seven projects will add 3.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to the Nigerian market, which will help avoid the forecast shortage in 2020. Gas from the projects will be used to produce a target amount of 15 GW of electricity by that year.

Nigeria is the top oil producer in Africa, but it has suffered a decline in oil and gas investments despite the crude oil price rebound because of the lack of government incentives and a delay in the approval of energy industry reform.

[sarkasm] 11/7/2018 15:47

High-Sulphur Fuels With Emissions Give Owners a Return on Investment
High Sulphur Fuels

By MarEx 2018-07-11 10:25:52

With more shipowners opting to install marine exhaust gas cleaning systems to their fleets, together with the publication of a UMAS report putting paid to the notion that LNG is a viable way of meeting emissions rules, could high-sulphur fuels remain the shipowners’ fuel of choice for meeting emissions requirements?

Marc Sima, the founder and CEO of Germany-based FuelSave thinks so. “High sulphur fuels will remain the industry’s favoured fuel until methanol and hydrogen-based alternatives have attained commercial viability. Until then, the pursuit of LNG is just throwing good money after bad,” he says.

Agreeing with the UMAS findings that there would be no significant reduction (if not a potential increase) in CO2 emissions through the wider take-up of LNG, he refutes the suggestion that low sulphur fuels will become the industry’s primary fuel source by 2020.

“I really can’t see the global fleet switching across to low sulphur fuel in little under two years’ time. Not only would shipowners have to make sure their engines are compatible with the fuel in time, but assuming they are, they would have to revise their supply chains, evaluate compatible lubricating oils, and then sit back and watch their operating costs increase. It just won’t happen. Low sulphur fuels may be today marginally more expensive than LNG, but should the industry make the switch en masse, what are the refiners going to do, reduce the cost? I doubt it.”

To meet the 2020 global sulphur cap, Sima advocates the continued use of HFO/MDO/MGO with the appropriate emissions abatement technology – a scrubber – as the only cost-effective and proven solution for emissions reduction. If a scrubber is opted for, he says its economic and emissions-reducing efficiency can be further optimised by using FuelSave’s patented FS Marine+ solution.

This is ostensibly a fuel additive that can be used with almost any type of two- and four-stroke engine running on HFO, MGO or MDO. It uses an onboard hydrogen synthgas generator to inject a gas and liquid water/methanol solution into an engine’s combustion chamber to significantly improve efficiency. In pilot tests aboard a heavy lift ship, fuel consumption was reduced by 25% equating to net savings of 15%.

“When a scrubber is used in concert with FS Marine+, higher fuel efficiencies can be achieved since the scrubber has less work to do, which equates directly to a greater reduction in fuel consumption. With a scrubber working with our process, we found shipowners can reduce the amortization rate for the scrubber which, currently does not provide a great return on investment. FS MARINE+ provides a real solution to emissions reduction, and without the kind of high investment the use of LNG or low-sulphur fuels would require.”

It is also thought that use of the FuelSave solution could allow for the installation of a smaller scrubber due to the improved exhaust gases, reducing installation volume and costs. This makes it possible to install a scrubber on ships where space is limited.

As a simple-to-install retrofit solution, with or without a scrubber, FuelSave adds a different dimension to the emissions debate, providing shipowners with alternative solution.

What’s more, the system has shown to have a beneficial impact on engine performance as it cleans up the combustion process, resulting in fewer carbon deposits and a reduced lubricating oil requirement.

This has been confirmed by Hamburg-based engine service company Carl Baguhn, which reported less soot on engine cylinders and less wear and tear due to the cleaner combustion process.

Following the FS Marine+ installation aboard the SAL Heavy Lift ship mv Annette, Carl Baguhn Technical Carsten Körbelin said: “It is a matter of fact. We have been maintaining the owner’s Mitsubishi auxiliary engines for some years. They run on MDO, have always been well maintained and operated under normal conditions. But since we installed the FuelSave system, the engine has become much cleaner. There is no visible soot and engine running is much smoother, with reduced levels of noise and vibration. The improvement is astonishing. This is something very special.”

Use of FS Marine+ also extended the times between lubricating oil changes from 500h to 1500h, reducing engine maintenance and service costs, considerably.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

[adrian j boris] 30/6/2018 19:49

Total and Pavilion Energy to jointly develop LNG as a Marine Fuel in Singapore
By Oil and Gas Republic on Jun 30, 2018@ogrepublic

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Total and Pavilion Energy to jointly develop LNG as a Marine Fuel in Singapore
Paris / Singapore, – Total and Pavilion Energy, through their subsidiaries Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions and Pavilion Gas, have signed Heads of Agreement (HoA) to jointly develop a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunker supply chain in the port of Singapore. The agreement covers the shared long-term time charter of a new generation LNG bunker vessel (LNGBV) to be commissioned by Pavilion Gas by 2020. It also includes an LNG supply arrangement between the two companies enabling Total to deliver LNG bunker to its customers.
The HoA, signed on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference 2018, follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concluded by both companies in April 2017 on LNG bunkering cooperation in Singapore. The HoA is a significant step forward and contributes to the development of Singapore as an LNG bunkering hub.
The move toward LNG as a bunker fuel is a suitable solution following the decision of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to set limits on sulphur content in marine fuels from 2020. LNG bunker not only produces zero sulphur oxides, but it also represents an available and competitive solution, which contributes to IMO’s long-term strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships announced in April 2018.
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total, declared, “The development of infrastructure is one of the key drivers for the take-off of LNG as a marine fuel. For the past few months, Total has been very active in that direction. The agreement signed with Pavilion Energy marks a new step in our commitment to provide our customers with fuels that are more environmentally friendly, particularly in Singapore which is the leading bunkering hub in the world.”
Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican, Chairman of Pavilion Energy, said, “Pavilion Energy is pleased to work with Total on establishing a robust LNG bunker supply chain in Singapore. Our partnership sets the stage for making LNG bunker readily and reliably available for the market. Together, we mark a decisive step forward in leading the change towards cleaner and more responsible solutions with LNG bunkering in the region.”

Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions is pursuing its ambition to develop the LNG bunker market. The first milestones of its strategy were set in Europe, with the signature of LNG bunker supply contracts for Brittany Ferries and CMA CGM, as well as the long-term chartered bunker vessel with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines that will be positioned in Northern Europe.

Pavilion Gas is committed to the development of Singapore as an LNG hub. In October 2016, Pavilion Gas was appointed as one of two importers to supply LNG to Singapore by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore. In January 2016, Pavilion Gas was awarded the LNG Bunker Supplier Licence to supply LNG bunker to vessels in the Port of Singapore.