Future forecast for life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of LNG and city gas 13A
Introduction
There are great expectations for LNG and city gas as basic energy sources that contribute greatly to improving the atmospheric environment and reducing CO2 emissions, and the acceleration of a shift to natural gas has been mentioned in Japan’s energy master-plan. The Japan Gas Association in 1998 surveyed local gas fields and liquefaction terminals in five locations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Australia, and Alaska) as procurement sites for LNG for city gas and collected data on CO2 and CH4 emissions. Then, LNG’s life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions (LCCO2), including emissions from LNG overseas transportation and those from construction of facilities for tankers, were analyzed. Additionally, city-gas 13A life-cycle’s greenhouse-gas emissions, including CO2 emissions from the energy consumption of domestic gasification plants to produce city gas and those from the construction of pipelines and other facilities, have been analyzed and reported [1], [2].
The purpose of this research was to execute analyses in the following areas.
- (1)
Collection of the latest actual data on CO2 and CH4 emissions for Middle Eastern LNG projects (in Qatar and Oman) launched with a view to diversifying LNG procurement since the last reports [1], [2], and reflection of the same in the analysis.
- (2)
Reexamination of newly constructed or additional gas field/liquefaction terminal facilities for the terminals surveyed in 1998, and reflection of the same in the analysis.
- (3)
Determination of LCCO2 emissions of city-gas 13A based on the latest actual domestic data in 2003.
- (4)
Estimation of the forecast values for LCCO2 emissions relative to the total Japanese LNG import volume and that of the three major gas companies (Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., Osaka Gas Co., Ltd., and Toho Gas Co., Ltd.) in 2010, taking account of the new LNG projects and plans for renovation of liquefaction trains.
Section snippets
Method of analyzing the LCCO2 emissions of LNG and city-gas 13A
Fig. 1 shows the evaluation scope of this report, that is, the system boundaries, which are the same as previously reported [1], [2]. Greenhouse-gas emissions from facility maintenance, dismantling and disposal are not within the scope of this analysis, because reliable data are not sufficiently available.
The analysis methods were based on the “bottom up” calculation. CO2 and CH4 emissions were calculated from the input–output balances of energy and environmental burdens of each stage to
LNG imports to Japan
Table 1 presents actual figures for the total Japanese (domestic) imports of LNG [3] and the imports of the three major gas companies (obtained from interviews) from each project in the fiscal year 2003.
From Table 1, it can be seen that the Qatar and Oman projects accounted for a little over 10% of both the total LNG imports and that of the three companies in the fiscal year 2003. The LNG import agreements had already been concluded for the Middle Eastern projects, and volumes based on these
Estimation of LNG import volume
Table 10 shows the estimates year of the total Japanese LNG imports and of the three gas companies in fiscal 2010 based on the amounts contracted for each LNG project. The Japanese LNG demand in 2010 is predicted to be 60.28 million tons [10]. In this research, the calculation was based on the amount that had been fixed by contracts as of December 2004.
Natural-gas production and liquefaction stages
A study was made of the possibility of an increase in production and liquefaction efficiencies, based mainly on design data, as a result of
Summary
This research consisted of (1) an update of the amounts of LCCO2 emissions associated with LNG and city-gas 13A in 2003 reflecting the addition of Middle Eastern projects initiated for the purpose of diversifying LNG procurement and the reexamination of newly installed gas-field and liquefaction terminal facilities, and (2) a forecast of the LCCO2 emissions in 2010 taking account of the increase in energy efficiency at the gas fields and liquefaction terminals scheduled to commence operations
References (11)
Life-cycle CO2 analysis of LNG and city gas
Energy Resources
(1999)- et al.
Life-cycle inventory analysis on fossil energy in Japan
Energy Econ
(1999) - Ministry of Finance (Japan), Statistics on trade (search page access date November 26, 2004)...
- Okamura Tomohito et al. Impact analysis of LNG project in the Middle East in life-cycle CO2 analysis. In: Proceedings...
- IPCC. Climate change,...
Cited by (35)
Assessment of a low-carbon natural gas storage network using the FLP model: A case study within China–Russia natural gas pipeline East Line's coverage
2021, Journal of Natural Gas Science and EngineeringA systematic review for sustainability of global liquified natural gas industry: A 10-year update
2021, Energy Strategy ReviewsCitation Excerpt :It can be used for heating, air conditioning, food cooking, lighting, etc. LNG is also applicable in the production of fertilizers and increasing in popularity as far as household activities such as cooking and heating are concerned [191–194]. Furthermore, it is used as an industrial utility for heating, firing, flare systems, steam generation, and cooling in some cryogenic industries [195].
How can LNG-fuelled ships meet decarbonisation targets? An environmental and economic analysis
2021, EnergyCitation Excerpt :Table 1 gives a breakdown of the methane emissions assumed for each stage of the natural gas supply chain. The energy for liquefaction is assumed to come from the combustion of natural gas, requiring 9.4% of throughput based on the mean of 8 studies [13,28–34]. For LNG transport, the range of CO2 and methane emissions was calculated from NGVA-thinkstep [19] and the IMO study from Korea [35].
Demystifying the lifecycle environmental benefits and harms of LNG as marine fuel
2021, Applied EnergyCitation Excerpt :Over the past decades, the energy industries have started to adopt life cycle assessment (LCA) for estimating the holistic environmental impact of LNG using as a major national energy source [11]. Similarly, Okamura, Furukawa [12] conducted LCA to predict future LNG outlook, and Jaramillo, Griffin [13] compared LNG with other alternative fuels which are coal, and Synthetic natural gas (SNG) for electricity generation. The automotive industries have also interested in using LCA as automotive fuel [14].
Greenhouse-gas emissions of Canadian liquefied natural gas for use in China: Comparison and synthesis of three independent life cycle assessments
2020, Journal of Cleaner ProductionCitation Excerpt :The results of our study are from the base scenario. LNG LCA studies (Abrahams et al., 2015; Arteconi et al., 2010; Biswas et al., 2011; Delphi Group, 2013; Jaramillo et al., 2007; Korre et al., 2012; Okamura et al., 2007; PACE, 2009; Safaei et al., 2015; Tagliaferri et al., 2017; Venkatesh et al., 2011) were collected and the following treatments were performed to harmonize the emission data: (1) All results were converted to a basis of MJ of NG delivered to end user. For Delphi Group (Delphi Group, 2013) which ends analysis at the outlet of LNG plant, we converted the results by multiplying by UBC’s energy ratio between LNG before marine transport and NG delivered to the end user. (
- 1
13A: based on differences of calorific and combustion speed, city gas is classified into seven groups in Japan: 13A, 12A, 6A, 5C, L1, L2, and L3. In the terms for each group, numerals are approximately equivalent to one-thousandth of the Wobbe index, and the letters indicate the combustion speed (A – slow, B – medium, and C – fast). The normal specifications of city-gas 13A are as follows: higher heating value is 45 MJ/Nm3, a major constituent of 13A is 90% of CH4, and the rest of the components are ethane, propane and butane.