Abstract
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is an important energy source for some countries. Sometimes it’s claimed to be cleaner than coal since it produces less CO₂ when burned. Yet LNG comes mostly from shale gas, which is made up almost entirely from methane gas. And the process of extracting, cooling it to liquid form, and moving it releases some of this methane to the atmosphere. So is LNG really a cleaner alternative to coal? To find out, we calculated the carbon footprint of LNG and its production. It turned out LNG has a larger footprint than coal! This is because of methane emissions during different stages of gas and LNG production. Methane is over 20 times more powerful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
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