Freeport fire fine
Dec 15 (LNGJ) - The Freeport LNG export plant on Quintana Island in Texas has accepted a fine from the US Environmental Protection Agency to settle safety violations related to the June 8, 2022, explosion and fire at the facility that caused over $250 million of damage. The consent agreement was made public by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and included a civil penalty of $163,054 for breaking chemical accident prevention rules under the Clean Air Act.
The settlement followed allegations by the EPA that Freeport LNG had failed in its duty to maintain a safe facility, did not implement recommendations from a 2021 hazard analysis and failed to punctually update its emergency contact information. Under the settlement, Freeport LNG neither admitted nor denied the allegations. The Freeport fire closed the plant for eight months and was a setback for the company as it was also looking forward to proceeding with an expansion project to increase output from around 15 million tonnes per annum of LNG from three Trains to 20 MTPA with the construction of a fourth Train.
Clean Energy Fuels of US and BP of UK add cow manure to global efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. of the US has joined with UK major BP to add cow manure to the global efforts to curb carbon-dioxide emissions in the form of liquefied natural gas made from waste.
US Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse-gas data shows big natural gas industry drop
The official Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions has been released showing that annual emissions from the natural gas distribution pipeline system for utilities and latterly to supply LNG export plants had dropped 73 percent in the past 18 years.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) figures for emissions from 1990 to 2018 illustrated the sizeable decline even as natural gas utilities added more than 760,000 miles of pipelines to serve 20 million more customers.
The report noted that distribution systems owned and operated by local natural gas utilities emit only 0.08 percent of produced natural gas.
“The greenhouse-gas emissions from the natural gas distribution system are low and getting lower and we remain committed to further reductions,” said American gas Association President and Chief Executive Karen Harbert.
“As companies continue to modernize our natural gas infrastructure and connect homes and businesses to the system, new opportunities arise to continue to drive down greenhouse gas emissions by leveraging new and existing natural gas infrastructure,” added Harbert.
For more than two decades, the EPA has developed and published estimates of greenhouse-gas emissions in its Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks.
The EPA Inventory represents the most comprehensive assessment of US greenhouse-gas emissions available.
The EPA made further updates to its Inventory released in April 2020.
“The analysis characterized new estimates for methane emissions and the implications for the greenhouse gas profile for natural gas,” said the AGA.
“The Inventory affirms a low methane emissions profile for natural gas distribution systems shaped by a declining trend,” said the industry body.
“Industry-wide natural gas emissions as a rate of production is now 1.0 percent - a level well below even the most stringent thresholds for immediate climate benefits achieved through coal-to-natural gas switching,” stated the AGA.
The AGA said it remained committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions through innovation, new and modernized infrastructure, and advanced technologies that maintain reliable, resilient and affordable energy service choices for consumers.
