Page 6 - AsiaElec Week 16 2021

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec

Push to clean up LNG continues

More developments related to the decarbonisation of LNG have

been reported in recent days

GLOBAL EFFORTS to decarbonise LNG, while still in statement, the partners will now combine tech-
their early days, are picking up pace. Several nologies and know-how to deliver “industri-
WHAT: separate developments related to cleaning up al-stage solutions”. Examples of such solutions
A handful of the super-chilled fuel have been reported over provided by the companies include the combus-
developments related to the past few days. tion of clean hydrogen in gas turbines, competi-
the push to decarbonise Two Europe-based giants, Total and Siemens tive all-electrical liquefaction, optimised power
LNG have been reported Energy, signed a technical collaboration agree- generation, the integration of renewable energy
in recent days ment to study sustainable solutions for reducing into liquefaction plants’ power systems and their
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. According to efficiency enhancement.
WHY: an April 13 statement from Total, the collabora- “Reducing its carbon footprint is essential for
Various companies tion will focus on natural gas liquefaction facili- LNG to play its role fully in the energy transi-
are stepping up efforts ties and associated power generation. tion,” commented Total’s president of explora-
to produce and trade In Japan, meanwhile, carbon-neutral LNG tion and production, Arnaud Breuillac.
carbon-neutral cargoes trading was reported to be picking up pace. Toho Siemens’ executive vice-president of indus-
of the fuel Gas received its first carbon-neutral cargo on trial applications, Thorbjörn Fors, said the part-
April 8, and pledged to buy more LNG that has ners would look at how they can competitively
WHAT NEXT: had its emissions offset. Separately, Tokyo Gas reduce the carbon footprint of brownfield and
Such decarbonisation said it had secured 70mn cubic metres worth of greenfield LNG projects alike.
efforts are set to continue carbon-neutral city gas supply customers, and Total notes that it is the world’s second-largest
and gain momentum that it saw considerable potential for growing privately owned LNG player, with a global port-
carbon-neutral LNG demand. folio anticipated to reach nearly 50mn tonnes
And in Singapore, Pavilion Energy per year (tpy) by 2025 and a global market share
announced on April 15 that it had imported its of around 10%. Its push to decarbonise LNG
first carbon-neutral LNG cargo – also the first therefore has the potential to have a significant
such cargo for the city-state. and far-reaching impact.
The various developments come as no great
surprise, given that the companies and countries Japanese push
involved have already been working on incor- For Japan, one of the leading importers of LNG,
porating carbon-neutral LNG into their plans. decarbonising the fuel is one of numerous steps
Instead, the latest news demonstrates that pro- being explored as the country targets net-zero
gress is being made. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. The
latest moves being reported this week come after
Collaboration the Carbon Neutral LNG Buyers Alliance was
Total delivered its first cargo of carbon-neutral formed in March. The alliance includes Tokyo
LNG in October 2020, shipping the fuel from Gas and 14 other companies that use city gas
Australia’s Ichthys liquefaction plant to China’s across various industries.
Dapeng terminal. Total said at the time that the As with Total, the latest news on Tokyo Gas
delivery represented a new step as it seeks to sup- illustrates progress on an initiative that was
port its customers towards carbon neutrality. already underway. The company, which is the
“The development of LNG is essential to meet largest seller of city gas in Japan, bought its first
the growth in global demand for energy while carbon-neutral LNG cargo in 2019, when such
reducing the carbon intensity of the energy cargoes were still in their infancy. Now Tokyo
products consumed,” Total’s president for gas, Gas says it expects to see a rise in demand for
Laurent Vivier, stated in October. carbon-neutral LNG from end-users.
Now, the new collaboration with Siemens The company started supplying 800,000
appears to represent the latest step in Total’s cubic metres per year of carbon-neutral city
efforts to decarbonise its own operations and gas to the Yakult Central Institute on April 1,
those of its customers. It builds on a previous marking the first use of carbon-neutral city gas
agreement between the two, struck in June 2020, supply to the Japanese beverage industry. This
aimed at advancing new concepts for green comes as the Japanese government has called on
LNG. the country’s industrial sectors to decarbonise
According to the French company’s latest their heating demand, and indeed has identified

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