SEA-LNG, the lobby group promoting LNG as an alternative shipping fuel, has hit out at a new NGO, Say No to LNG, which launched to plenty of headlines at the start of this month.
SEA-LNG argued that the new NGO has based its campaign on a false contention, suggesting the industry is hiding the issue of methane emissions.
SEA-LNG claimed in a release issued on Friday that the industry has been open about methane emissions, maintaining that levels of methane slip have been reduced by a factor of four since LNG-fuelled engines were introduced in the early 2000s.
“LNG is a step in the right direction as it provides immediate reductions in GHG emissions, including methane, of up to 23% on a full lifecycle (or well-to-wake) basis and it offers a low-cost, low-risk incremental pathway to decarbonisation via bio-LNG and renewable synthetic LNG (e-LNG). In addition it virtually eliminates harmful local emissions, such as SOX and NOX,” SEA-LNG argued.
LNG remains the number one alternative fuel chosen by owners when ordering newbuilds, with the number of LNG-fuelled ships soaring in recent years. Detractors of the fuel have also grown in number and volume with the likes of the World Bank weighing in.
Say No To LNG’s one goal, according to its website, is to urge policymakers, industry stakeholders, and financial institutions to urgently rule LNG out of any shipping decarbonisation scenario, to ensure the fuel is seen as a “dead-end solution”.
