Going big on LNG may have major negative consequences for BC: report
Posted May 26, 2015 10:37 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – If the province is as successful as it hopes in securing a number of LNG terminals, there could be big environmental effects, according to a new report.
While there’s no question LNG burns cleaner that conventional gas, when you factor in the fracking process used to extract it, the greenhouse gas emission impact is greater, says geoscientist David Hughes, who put together the report for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
“Things like water contamination and the fact that greenhouse gas emissions from the process of extracting fuel gas are quite a bit higher than conventional gas. Then there’s the issue of surface disturbance.”
Imagine 22,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools of our water being used in the fracking process by 2040; Huges says that’s what we could looking at, and the methane emissions could be just as worrying.
“If it’s over a 20-year period, it’s about 70 times as potent as CO2. Over a 100-year period, it’s about 30 times as potent,” he warns.
In his report, Hughes also suggests the government is giving an overly optimistic figure about how much gas will actually be available for export.
