Major liquefied natural gas (LNG) importers the European Union and Japan are together aiming to establish an assessment platform to keep tabs on methane emissions from LNG projects.
The platform is meant to support an industry alliance to curb LNG methane emissions that was simultaneously announced by Japan’s JERA Co. Inc. and Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) .
The Coalition for LNG Emission Abatement toward Net-Zero would pool efforts from both LNG buyers and producers to reduce emissions of methane, the hydrocarbon that is blamed for more than a fourth of greenhouse gas emissions.
“With the support of the governments of Japan, the United States and Republic of Korea, and the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), we will work to increase the visibility of methane emissions through dialogue with LNG producers, and to develop and disseminate best practices to reduce methane emissions”, JERA and KOGAS said of the initiative in a joint press release.
On Tuesday the European Commission, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the USA met to discuss measures for the acceleration of methane mitigation in the LNG value chain.
“To support the Coalition, Japan and the European Commission expressed their vision to create a globally aligned methane emission assessment of LNG projects and to incentivize methane mitigation by LNG producers by facilitating the information collection process of methane leakage counter measures and methane reduction targets”, a joint statement by the allies said.
The assessment platform would collect emissions data throughout the LNG supply chain. “Within Japan, JOGMEC will provide support mechanisms for LNG producers and consumers by creating an initiative that collects methane measures and best practices, complementing the work of other existing platforms such as the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0”, the statement said.
“Japan also resolved to provide support for accelerated methane measurement and mitigation by LNG producers, especially in Asian countries, by leveraging its expertise from ongoing support on emission assessment and reduction in gas and LNG projects.”
Japan reclaimed its position as the globe’s biggest LNG importer last year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its gas market report for the first quarter of 2023. The East Asian country held that place from at least 2015 to 2019, according to a 2020 IEA report that forecast the world’s third-largest economy would maintain that position until 2022, after which it would be overtaken by China.
South Korea was the second-largest importer 2015 and 2016, overtaken by China from 2017 to 2019, according to the IEA.
Japan imported 71.998 million tons of LNG in 2022, according to finance ministry data published March 10.
The EU meanwhile has logged an annual average of LNG imports of about 116 million tons (157 billion cubic meters) in regasified form, according to data on the European Commission website.
In announcing the methane mitigation alliance, JERA and KOGAS said they recognize their climate role “as the world’s largest LNG buyers”.
“Both companies recognize LNG as a transition energy for a decarbonized society, and believe that efforts to reduce GHG emissions in LNG value chain will become more important in the future”, they said.
In South Korea, KOGAS will “put great efforts to enhance the visibility of methane emission through the LNG value chain in collaboration with JERA and JOGMEC to support the global response to climate change and sustainable energy system”, the companies’ announcement said.
Meanwhile the USA “resolved to encourage LNG producers and natural gas consumers in the United States to take ambitious action to reduce methane emissions throughout the natural gas supply chain, including production, distribution, and consumption”, the statement by the countries said.