4 current myths about LNG in freight transport

#novinky

LNG. Three letters that since the start of the war in Ukraine have acquired an unreasonably heroic aura as Europe's saviours in the event of a disruption in Russian gas supplies. As GasNet Group, we are a leader in constructing LNG infrastructure for freight transport in Czechia and are preparing for the onset of bioLNG. Today, we will debunk four myths about LNG that are currently circulating with regard to the freight transport industry.

Do you run on LNG? That's gas, and it comes from Russia.

We bring LNG to our stations from European terminals, where it is transported by sea tankers mainly from the US and Qatar. In fact, Qatar and the US are among the largest exporters of LNG, along with Australia. LNG is therefore helping to diversify energy sources and has even become the dominant form of gas distribution worldwide by 2020. At the same time, EU countries are planning to expand the capacity of existing terminals and are starting to build new ones rapidly.

Forget it, the Green Deal is dead and so is LNG...

On the contrary. While Europe is now placing more emphasis on self-sufficiency and diversification of resources in the context of security, this is not mutually exclusive with the Green Deal for Europe. This is also confirmed by the European Commission's newly presented REPowerEU plan, which aims to provide Europe with an additional €210 billion to support more sustainable energy in the coming years. A significant part of the funding is intended to boost LNG distribution and biomethane production. And both commodities are more interlinked in the transport sector than it may seem at the first glance. How? You'll find out in another myth that says...

...investing in LNG infrastructure doesn't make sense. After all, Europe wants to get rid of fossil fuels.

Yes, LNG is a fossil fuel, and Europe wants to be independent from fossil fuels in the next few decades because they cause global warming. But that does not mean that building LNG infrastructure for freight transport does not make sense for the future. LNG trucks already have lower emissions than diesel trucks: dust particles by 99%, NOx by 70%, CO2 by up to 20%. "At the same time, the Czech Republic must reduce emissions in road freight transport by 34% by 2030, compared to 2019," says Filip Dostál, Head of Business Development at GasNet. Renewable bioLNG, to which Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands are switching massively in freight transport, can play an important role in this process. "BioLNG, i.e., liquefied biomethane, can reduce emissions in freight transport by up to 90% on average compared to diesel. The same infrastructure that we are already building for LNG can be used to distribute it. And we don't have to wait long because we can gradually blend bioLNG into LNG. LNG is therefore now the only fully functional and long-term proven technology that provides a solution for heavy goods transport in the short and medium term," adds Filip Dostál.

Can LNG be an alternative for freight transport in the Czech Republic? But there are no refuelling stations...

There are, but not many and the potential is significantly greater: While in Europe there are already over 550 LNG stations, and their number is growing rapidly, in the Czech Republic only four are currently in operation. Three are operated by GasNet, in Mladá Boleslav, Klecany near Prague and Nýřany near Plzeň. "As GasNet, we are working on the commissioning of additional LNG filling stations and simultaneously we are preparing for the use of renewable bioLNG. There are over 550 biogas facilities in the country, and moreover, many new projects are planned, which can be massively supported by REPowerEU's investment plan. Biomethane has thus a great potential in our country as well. By 2030, it could replace 10 to 15% of domestic natural gas consumption for heating and road transport. However, the government needs to be more active in this area and support the emergence of bioLNG and LNG, as is the case in other European countries," adds Filip Dostál.