The CEO of Cheniere Energy Inc. Jack Fusco wants the largest US natural gas exporter to set rules to measure the impact of liquefied natural gas on the environment, using an array of methane-tracking technologies and the company’s power as a leading consumer nationwide. fat.
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(Bloomberg) — Cheniere Energy Inc.’s chief executive, Jack Fusco, wants the largest U.S. natural gas exporter to set rules to measure the impact of liquefied natural gas, using an array of methane-tracking technology and the company’s national power. a high consumer of fuel.
Cheniere collects data using satellite imagery, helicopters, drones, fixed sensors and lidar emissions tracking, or light detection and ranging, Fusco said in an interview last week at the Gastech conference in Houston. In 2022, the company began listing emissions data related to each contract shipment from two export plants in Louisiana and Texas.
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“The public wants a clean fuel source. And our challenge is to make sure that we are not only keeping up but leading,” said Fusco.
Tracking emissions of fossil fuels from the US is key to meeting the demand of European consumers as lawmakers in the European Union work on laws to curb methane – a major component of natural gas – by using imported energy. Cheniere already adheres to the United Nations-led system for measuring methane, which the European Commission has outlined in its proposed rules. Proponents of establishing mechanisms to track LNG emissions say that ultimately deciding how to measure the system will have negative consequences for the world’s LNG buyers and sellers.
But environmental groups and researchers have pushed back on the methods used to track methane. Cornell University professor Robert Howarth wrote a study released in late 2023 that renewed the battle over how much LNG contributes to global production, saying natural gas is “no better for the climate than coal.” The Biden administration continues to study the environmental impacts of LNG and paused approval of new projects in January.
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With the US set to double its LNG export capacity by the end of the decade, Cheniere says it expects to be ahead of other LNG exporters that are not following LNG emissions and aims to use its strength as the country’s leading gas buyer to set the world apart. standards.
Fusco unexpectedly compared Cheniere’s position to tracking methane with Whole Foods, referring to the store becoming the first national certified organic food retailer and thus setting industry standards.
“They set the rules of the road and used purchasing power to make sure people obey them,” Fusco said of the grocery store. “We are coming. But as you know, we buy a lot of fuel.”
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