Germany must consider climate risks during LNG buildout – govt advisors

Germany’s quest for liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a substitute for halted Russian pipeline supplies entails significant risks regarding climate change mitigation, as the country’s demand could lead to new extraction projects and lock-in effects abroad, and methane and CO2 emissions from extraction and transport to their final consumption are high, several reports commissioned by the climate action science platform (Wissenschaftsplattform Klimaschutz – WPKS) show. The government advisory panel, which is made up of several renowned climate and energy research institutes, called on the government to take these climate risks into account for LNG expansion plans. “Despite the record-breaking expansion of LNG infrastructure in Germany, fossil gas will only be relevant for energy supply during a transitional period,” the advisors said. “Therefore, the German government should always consider and plan for the goal of climate neutrality by 2045 when expanding LNG supply.” To avoid lock-in effects, LNG supply should be planned for the long term and in line with climate legislation, they said. To ensure that the demand for natural gas is covered, LNG supply contracts should be set up flexibly and with short durations. Investments in new natural gas extraction have to be avoided in order not to jeopardise climate targets.

A report by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (ifeu) compared methane and CO2 emissions along the entire value chain of LNG up until it arrives in Germany. They concluded that emissions are highest from Algeria, second highest from the U.S. and lowest from Qatar. Compared to pipeline-bound natural gas from Norway, LNG imports arriving in Germany have six to eight times the climate impact along the supply chain, said ifeu based on other studies. It emphasises that a lack of data, for example from Qatar, still means that detailed analyses of emissions in different countries are difficult to make and often rely on company data.

Since late 2022, Germany has several floating LNG import facilities. While the direct supply via these terminals only makes up a small share of all gas consumption (a record 8% in June 2023), until now the vast majority of shipments has come from the U.S., data by energy industry association BDEW show. Germany mainly receives gas from Norway, the Netherlands and via neighbouring countries’ LNG terminals. The issue of LNG imports’ large climate footprint has been discussed for years, and high emissions during extraction mean that the climate impact is much higher than what campaigns by the gas industry portray.