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LNG will make the world cleaner, greener and less polluted
On the 29th and 30th of April 2019, we are gathering the leaders of LNG industry in Malta to discuss the key points of the sphere. It will be already the 5th edition of International LNG Congress and even though we discuss many 'traditional' issues like using LNG as a fuel or trading LNG, this time we will speak about 2 new trends that attract attention of the biggest players – Bio-LNG and the technology ‘gas to power'.
Bio-LNG
LNG itself is already 'greener' than all other gas-related energy sources. However, it can be even more environment-friendly and the appearance of Bio-LNG proves this idea.
Basically, to make Bio-LNG one needs biomass from animal or green waste which should be freed from CO2 and H2S and then liquefied as usual. The result of the procedure is gas which is purely renewable.
The idea sounds like a way to cleaner energy future but it faces the lack of Bio-LNG production capacities and higher prices for the product. Bio-LNG cannot be produced the same volumes as traditional LNG, but it can be a solution for the regions where there is plenty of bio-waste but no gas infrastructure exists.
Big players of the industry like Rolande and Wartsila are already doing Bio-LNG and EU government highly welcome the idea of this cleaner energy, especially if it is used as a fuel as it has practically zero emission.
Once we have the technology that will be competitive with traditional LNG production, the switch to this cleaner option can be done.
Gas to power
Bio-LNG is not the only step of the industry to ‘greener’ future. It looks like LNG industry is striving to become better, cleaner and more competitive with traditional energy sources and another new trend is transforming gas to power.
One of the schemes of this process looks like this: the liquefied natural gas is delivered to the regasification plant after which it is transported to gas to power plant and then to end users. The projects are highly popular in African regions where electricity is a big problem.
There are many questions to LNG to power projects. The questions of pricing, regulatory requirements and demand slow the spread of this new trend but once all the factors coincide this technology will be welcome in many regions where power is an urgent issue. The projects are already being developed in Asia, Africa and South America and with the successful cases the popularity of the technology will only increase.
Delimara LNG Terminal in Malta is an example of gas to power technology being adopted in Europe and the delegates of the 5th International LNG Congress will be able to visit the terminal of Electro Gas Malta and see the promising technology.
5th International LNG Congress will become a platform for discussion of Bio-LNG and gas to power trends. Session 6 which is 'New implementation of LNG industry' will gather case-studies on new trends.
Article by Natalya Kuznetsova, Project Director of the International LNG Congress