A New Program Promotes Natural Gas Produced in the Most Environmentally Responsible Manner
Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel and the U.S. is the largest producer and LNG exporter in the world
The European Union recently shocked many environmental groups and some European countries by declaring natural gas as “green.” In doing so, the EU granted permission to EU member countries to use natural gas to fill the energy gap created by the epic failures of wind power in the last two winters and the continued cuts in natural gas supplies from Russia.
While the natural gas industry has long emphasized that natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel, the anti-fossil fuel movement refused to recognize the environmental benefits of natural gas. Instead, they attacked natural gas as dangerous for the climate, alleging that gas pipeline leaks of methane caused global warming and fracking damaged fresh water supplies. These allegations became the dogma that resulted in international anti-natural gas policies. Some countries implemented policies that prevented drilling within their borders and even importing natural gas.
To counter the anti-natural gas policies, some energy companies are taking creative steps to emphasize the environmental benefits of natural gas, namely that it is the cleanest fossil fuel that can be a reliable baseload fuel as well as a swing fuel for when the wind doesn’t blow, and the sun doesn’t shine. The clean aspect of natural gas is that it is primarily methane or CH4, meaning that it is a one-carbon compound in which single bonds attach the carbon to four hydrogen atoms. Stripping out the single molecule of carbon leaves pure hydrogen, called “blue hydrogen, which is currently used in rocket engines and industrial processes.
On August 8, 2022, two U.S. energy companies, Williams and PennResources, are taking the clean aspect of natural gas further by announcing their agreement to support the marketing and delivery of certified, low emissions next-gen natural gas. This is analogous to the label “USDA Organic Certified” food which assures consumers that the food so labeled has been produced and processed using only organic methods and ingredients.
This certified clean natural gas will carry an independent, third-party certification that best practices were followed to minimize emissions and produce natural gas in the “most environmentally responsible manner,” according to their press release. This Appalachian-sourced natural gas will undergo a certification process, so buyers will know that it is the cleanest produced and transported natural gas possible. Chenier Energy, Inc., the largest U.S. exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG), can carry the “green” certification when they sell LNG to their European customers.
This brilliant strategy should appeal to EU and non-EU countries that could start an industry-wide program to certify natural gas that is produced and transported in an environmentally responsible manner.