Environment NGO red flags LNG bunkering plans at Port of Long Beach

At the Port of Long Beach’s recent board of harbour commissioners meeting, campaigners from environment NGO Pacific Environment (PE) asked stakeholders to move against LNG bunkering.

PHOTO: Pacific Environment's Dawny'all Heydari with supporters. @pacenvironment on Twitter

"Despite the fossil fuel industry’s greenwashing, liquefied natural gas is a #FossilFuel. It is composed of about 90% methane, which has 86 TIMES the #climate warming potential as carbon dioxide on a shorter timescale," Pacific Environment climate campaigner Dawny’all Heydari said in a Twitter post.

Pacific Environment, which holds a seat at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), has been running a campaign against LNG bunkering in the Port of Long Beach.

A flyer titled "Stop Gas Build-out at Port of Long Beach!" on its website states that “If built, this facility would lock in dangerous emissions and pollutants for at least 30 years (the life span of a cargo ship) and would impact our community’s air, land, and water quality for even longer."

It adds that “the global shipping industry is turning to liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a bridge fuel to synthetic methane-based fuels, but all of these fuels emit climate-warming emissions.”

Questions have been raised about the decarbonisation potential of LNG, which was the preferred choice for alternatively-fuelled vessel orders for a second consecutive year in 2022, according to DNV data.

By Nitin Sharma

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