A gas ship will cost us even more

 

 That ship is too big for us (Lithuania is too small for the ship), so it is expensive for us to use it now. It will be even worse as the European Union prepares to tax its work more heavily:

"WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. -- Drones darted in patterns above natural-gas wells in the hills of southwest Pennsylvania, as workers atop water tanks pointed specialized cameras, and a helicopter outfitted with a laser-light detection system swooped in low. All searched for an invisible enemy: methane.

The U.S. gas industry faces growing pressure from investors and customers to prove that its fuel has a lower-carbon provenance to sell it around the world. That led the top U.S. gas producer, EQT Corp., and the top exporter, Cheniere Energy Inc., to team up and track the emissions from wells that feed major shipping terminals. The companies are trying to collect reliable data on releases of methane -- a potent greenhouse gas attracting scrutiny for its contributions to climate change -- and demonstrate they can reduce these emissions.

"What we're trying to really do is build the trust up to the end user that our measurements are correct," said David Khani, EQT's chief financial officer. "Let's put our money where our mouth is."

Natural gas boomed world-wide over the past few decades as countries moved to supplant fossil fuels such as coal and oil. It has long been touted as a bridge to a lower-carbon future. But while gas burns cleaner than coal, gas operations leak methane, which has a more potent effect on atmospheric warming than carbon dioxide, though it makes up a smaller percentage of total greenhouse-gas emissions.

 Producing, transporting and ultimately burning one metric ton of LNG releases the greenhouse-gas equivalent of about 3.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to a U.K. government estimate, about a quarter of which are emitted before the fuel reaches a power plant.

Investors, policy makers and buyers of liquefied natural gas are rethinking the fuel's role in their energy mix because of concerns about methane emissions, which were highlighted this week as a significant contributor to climate change by a scientific panel working under the auspices of the United Nations. Those concerns, pronounced in Europe and increasingly in Asia, are a problem for LNG shippers, as some of their customers signal plans to ease gas consumption over time.

In a policy draft last month, Japanese regulators said the country would have LNG make up 20% of its projected power generation by 2030, down from a prior target of 27%. The European Union has been weighing how to pressure LNG shippers to cut emissions. It could include LNG among the imports subject to a recently proposed carbon border tax."[1]

Who will pay that new tax? Look in the mirror. In it you see the victim of Lithuanian politics. You will pay for that politics.

1. Business News: Natural-Gas Firms Target Emissions --- Cheniere Energy, EQT among those seeking to collect data on methane leaks
Eaton, Collin.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 13 Aug 2021: B.6.