The BC LNG industry and Woodfibre LNG have been making claims for years that their product will help lower global greenhouse gas emissions by displacing other fossil fuels like oil and coal in other parts of the world, especially Asia and China.
There is one problem, the LNG industry has not provided proof that can back up its claim. In fact, numerous studies have been done on this topic are showing that LNG from North America emits more over its lifecycles than coal does when exported and used in Asia or China. In other words, it will increase global greenhouse gas emissions.
Below we are providing a list of media articles and letters on the topic, and studies that compare the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of BC LNG and North American LNG against coal when these fuels used in Asia or China.
Media articles
- The Narwhal: Canada thinks LNG exports can reduce carbon pollution. Now it’s digging for proof, Dec, 2023
- National Observer: Canada’s methane leaks — underreported and overwhelming, Oct, 2023
- New York Times: Leaks can make natural gas as bad for the climate as coal, study says, July, 2023
- Common Dreams: Study Shows Methane Leaks Put Climate Risk From Gas ‘On Par With Coal’ , July, 2023
- Squamish Chief: Woodfibre LNG — Making progress is not building it, April, 2023
- The Tyee: BC’s Orwellian LNG Con, April, 2023
- The Tyee: Is BC LNG Really Green?, Mar, 2023
- CBC News: Methane emissions escaping from oil and gas sites underestimated, new reports suggest, Nov, 2022
- Squamish Chief: Woodfibre LNG’s shaky climate claims, Aug, 2022
- CBC News: Study using laser technology suggests Canada overlooks key sources of methane emissions, July, 2021
- CBC: Opinion: Using natural gas as a climate solution will become a climate problem, June, 2022
- CBC News: Canada’s methane emissions are likely undercounted, and that makes them harder to cut, April, 2021
- Squamish Chief: Can a Squamish liquefied natural gas terminal reduce global emissions?, June, 2020
- Bowen Island Undercurrent: OPINION: Woodfibre doesn’t align with climate emergency, May, 2020
- CBC Business News: ‘Clean’ natural gas is actually the new coal, report says: Don Pittis, July, 2019
- The Tyee: Despite What Politicians Say, Hundreds of BC Gas Wells Leak Methane, November, 2017
- The Tyee: Canada’s Methane Leakage Massively Under-reported, Studies Find, April, 2017
- NYT: Methane Leaks May Greatly Exceed Estimates, Report Says, August 2015
Studies
- Robert W. Howarth: The Greenhouse Gas Footprint of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Exported from the United States, Oct, 2023
- Nature: National quantifications of methane emissions from fuel exploitation using high resolution inversions of satellite observations, Aug, 2023
- IOPScience: Evaluating net life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions intensities from gas and coal at varying methane leakage rates, July, 2023
- CCPA: BC’s Carbon Conundrum: Why LNG exports doom emissions-reduction targets and compromise Canada’s long-term energy security, July, 2020
- World Watch Institute: Comparing Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Natural Gas and Coal, Aug, 2011
Articles and studies applying to Woodfibre LNG’s carbon capture plans
