Page 6 - AsiaElec Week 31

AsiaElec GAS-FIRED GENERATION AsiaElec
Australian gas study uses project data for first time
AUSTRALIA
A new scienti c study using commercial data from an active Australian lique ed natural gas (LNG) project has found that using natural gas instead of coal in Australia’s power sector could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to half.
e report, published by CSIRO’s Gas Indus- try Social and Environmental Research Alliance (GISERA) on July 29, may not be groundbreak- ing, but it is the rst ever study to use commercial data from an active coal-bed methane (CBM) to LNG project in Queensland in its research.
CSIROsaid:“Auniquefeatureoftheresearch is the use of commercial-in-confidence data from a [CBM] to LNG project in the Surat Basin, Queensland [providing] for the rst time accurate estimates of whole of life [GHG] emis- sions associated with CSG-LNG operations in Australia.”
e report noted that switching from black thermal coal to Queensland CBM for local power generation using high-e ciency closed cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) could reduce GHG emissions by around 50%. is consideration is based on the gas production and treatment but excludes the liquefaction, shipping and regasi - cation processes required to export gas to Asian markets.
CSIRO added that GHG emissions stemming from production, treatment and liquefaction of the CBM represented 1.4% of the unnamed pro- ject’s likely future production,
which was pegged at 576 PJ (15bn cubic metres) per year. e primary source of emis- sions in the CBG-LNG supply chain within Australia relates to on-site gas- red power gen- eration that supports the extraction and lique- faction process.
CSIRO said: “Outside Australia, the primary [activity] contributing to emissions [was the] combustion of natural gas, which represented 83% of total emissions when all processes from wellhead through liquefaction, shipping, regasi- cation and combustion were considered.”
GISERA director Damian Barrett said: “ e climate bene ts of using natural gas in place of thermal coal for electricity generation are gen- erally accepted when fugitive emissions are less than 3% of total production. Results of this latest research underline the potential climate bene ts of using gas in place of coal to generate electricity, particularly when using high-e ciency CCGTs.”
APPEA CEO Andrew McConville said CSIRO’s findings confirmed the key role gas plays in lowering GHG emissions in both the domestic and export markets.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 31 06 •August•2019