Flüssigerdgas hinterlässt unter Berücksichtigung von Verarbeitung und Transport einen um 33 % schlechteren Treibhausgas-Fußabdruck als Kohle. Methan ist mehr als 80-mal schädlicher für die Atmosphäre als Kohlendioxid, sodass selbst kleine Emissionen große Auswirkungen auf das Klima haben können

Liquefied natural gas leaves a greenhouse gas footprint that is 33% worse than coal, when processing and shipping are taken into account, according to a new Cornell study.

“Natural gas and shale gas are all bad for the climate. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is worse,” said Robert Howarth, author of the study and the David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “LNG is made from shale gas, and to make it you must supercool it to liquid form and then transport it to market in large tankers. That takes energy.”

The research, “The Greenhouse Gas Footprint of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Exported from the United States,” published Oct. 3 in Energy Science & Engineering.

The emissions of methane and carbon dioxide released during LNG’s extraction, processing, transportation and storage account for approximately half of its total greenhouse gas footprint, Howarth said.

Over 20 years, the carbon footprint for LNG is one-third larger than coal, when analyzed using the measurement of global warming potential, which compares the atmospheric impact for different greenhouse gases. Even on a 100-year time scale – a more-forgiving scale than 20 years – the liquefied natural gas carbon footprint equals or still exceeds coal, Howarth said.

The findings have implications for LNG production in the U.S., which is the world’s largest exporter, after it lifted an export ban in 2016, according to the paper. Almost all of the increase in natural gas production since 2005 has been from shale gas. Howarth said the exported LNG is produced from shale in Texas and Louisiana.

[https://scijournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ese3.1934](https://scijournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ese3.1934)

It’s an environmental tragedy that Germany, New York et al have shut down nuclear reactors in favour of LNG. Crimes against the climate.   

[Add to this the fact we no longer get the anti-greenhouse benefit of sulphur dioxide emissions in shipping – a bizarre decision which is warming the planet.](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01442-3&ved=2ahUKEwibveTSxfmIAxXXZ0EAHXEDAfkQFnoECBQQAQ)