Frequently asked Questions
WHAT IS LNG?
Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is natural gas that is cooled to minus 160 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, it becomes a clear, colorless, odorless liquid.
Liquefying reduces the volume of natural gas by more than 600 times – similar to reducing the volume of a beach ball to the volume of a ping-pong ball. Liquefied natural gas can be shipped by carriers to countries that are looking to reduce their emissions by switching from coal to natural gas. Natural gas has half the carbon emissions of coal. It also doesn’t contribute to air pollution and smog. That’s why more than 40 countries around the world import natural gas as LNG at over 90 receiving terminals, most which are located near major cities.
LNG is not corrosive nor toxic. When it’s not kept at -160 degrees Celsius, it turns into a gas again. LNG does not mix with water or soil. If released, it quickly dissipates into the air.
Natural gas is the single largest form of energy used in Canadian homes, with over 6 million homeowners using natural gas to heat their homes, water and cook. Natural gas has been a part of Canada’s energy mix since it was first discovered in New Brunswick in 1859. Today about 30 percent of Canada’s entire energy needs are met by natural gas.
LNG is also being used in Canada to reduce emissions in the transportation sector. Truck fleets and the shipping industry are switching to LNG from diesel and heavy marine fuel to help reduce emissions and cut air pollution.
WHY SHOULD CANADA HAVE AN LNG INDUSTRY?
Liquefying and exporting Canada’s natural gas adds value by creating thousands of new construction jobs, trades training opportunities, contracting and supplier opportunities and permanent jobs in LNG facilities.
An LNG industry in Canada will require workers, goods and services from across Canada, in addition to supporting the jobs and revenue from Canada’s existing natural gas industry.
A 2016 Conference Board of Canada report estimated an LNG industry would boost Canada’s economy by an average of $7.4 billion per year every year for the next 30 years. The increased economic activity would raise national employment by an annual average of 65,000 jobs.
The report estimates that developing an LNG industry to this size would result in the production of an additional 5 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of natural gas, approximately doubling 2014 production levels and require an average annual investment $7 billion per year. Each dollar of investment would generate approximately $0.76 in GDP for British Columbia and $1.06 for Canada.
The total impact on government revenues– provincial and federal- is estimated at close to $6 billion per year.
WILL CANADIANS BE HIRED FOR THESE JOBS?
Canadian LNG Alliance members are committed to hiring Canadians and will only look to other countries if there are not enough Canadians to fill positions.
WHERE ARE LNG PROJECTS LOCATED IN CANADA?
The Canadian LNG Alliance represents LNG projects based on the West Coast of British Columbia, in Kitimat, Delta and Squamish.
The LNG Canada project in Kitimat, B.C. is currently under construction. The FortisBC Tilbury facility in Delta, B.C., just outside of Vancouver, has been operating since 1971.
There are also proposed LNG projects in Nova Scotia and Quebec. There is one LNG import facility in New Brunswick.
WHAT ARE THE GLOBAL BENEFITS?
Canada will produce LNG with the lowest emissions anywhere in the world, thanks to clean hydro-electric power in British Columbia that will in part or entirely, power the facilities in B.C. that cool the natural gas until it becomes liquid. Clean hydro-electric power is also used in the facilities that extract natural gas to reduce emissions.
LNG has far less carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels, such as coal, and creates almost none of the fine particulate matter that causes smog and air pollution that coal does. 62 percent of China’s energy still comes from coal.
Countries that switch from coal to Canada’s LNG will help reduce global emissions and provide cleaner air for their citizens. 4.2 million people in the world die each year from complications due to outdoor air pollution and an additional 1.6 million people die from indoor air pollution, breathing in soot from dirty cooking fuels such as coal and dung. 92 percent of the world lives in places where air pollution exceeds the World Health Organization’s limits for air pollution.
IS LNG SAFE?
The LNG industry has one of the longest safe shipping records of any industry- over 60 years without a single loss of containment.
LNG is a liquid and does not burn and is not explosive because liquids don’t have enough oxygen to allow combustion or burning. When warmed, LNG becomes natural gas again.
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HOW IS LNG SHIPPED?
LNG is transported to international markets by insulated, double-hulled ships that carry 125,000 to 215,000 cubic metres of LNG. That’s enough energy to power a city the size of Vancouver for about a week.
LNG carriers have double hulls and primary and secondary cargo containment systems. On-board safety systems include gas detection and low temperature monitoring, heat and fire detection, and emergency response systems. Other standard navigation safety features include global positioning equipment, global maritime distress systems, and ship-to-shore communications.
There are currently close to 400 LNG carriers in operation around the world, and over 80,000 LNG cargos have been delivered since 1964 without a single cargo lost.
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WHAT ABOUT FRACKING?
Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has been used to develop natural gas in Canada for more than 70 years.
It is a short-term process (anywhere from one to three days) where water, sand, and small amounts of additives are pumped down a well under pressure. This fracturing fluid is 99.5% water The pressure causes the rock to fracture, creating small fissures that allow the natural gas to flow safely through a cement-lined wellbore to the surface.
Shale reservoirs that contain natural gas are found 2,000 to 3,000 metres below the ground. As a comparison, Toronto’s CN Tower is 550 metres. More than 175,000 wells have been fractured safely in Western Canada over the last 60 years.
In British Columbia, the province’s geology provides a natural advantage over other areas of the world where hydraulic fracturing takes place closer to the surface. Natural gas in B.C. is found deep underground, in some cases over four thousand metres, and beneath impermeable layers of rock.
Even though hydraulic fracturing has been around for decades, the technique has evolved to incorporate technology and improve the practices that protect air, water and land.
In Alberta and British Columbia, the additives used in hydraulic fracturing fluid must be publicly disclosed on a public database that can be found at FracFocus (fracfocus.ca)
Groundwater is protected first, by strict regulations that ensure that hydraulic fracturing fluids never come in contact with groundwater such as several layers of steel well casings and second, by strict regulations about how fracturing fluid can be disposed of.
Nowadays, very little fresh water is used in hydraulic fracturing. Most projects re-use their hydraulic fracturing fluid over and over. Regulations manage how much fresh water can be used and how hydraulic fracturing fluid can be disposed. For example, Shell’s Groundbirch facility in northeast B.C. uses 98 percent recycled water in their hydraulic fracturing operations.
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DOES FRACKING CAUSE EARTHQUAKES?
Hydraulic fracturing forces water into the ground to cause small cracks in rock thousands of feet below the surface. This activity causes microseismic events. When humans cause seismic events- it’s called induced seismicity. Earthquakes are naturally-occurring seismic events.
These microseismic events are so small, they’re rarely felt on the surface. Of the events that can be felt on the surface, most range from 0.0ML to 3.0ML on the Richter scale- about the same as the vibrations from a large passing truck. In rare cases, hydraulic fracturing has caused seismic events of 4.0ML to 4.8ML. Even at these levels, property damage is unlikely. Even so, any seismic event over 2.0ML must be reported to the regulator and in the rare case an event 4.0ML or over takes place, hydraulic fracturing activity must immediately stop, until an investigation by an independent regulator has taken place and the regulator has given the operator permission to begin again.
DOES CANADA HAVE ENOUGH NATURAL GAS FOR OUR OWN USE IF WE START EXPORTING IT TO OTHER COUNTRIES?
Canada’s proven natural gas resources are estimated at over 1,200 trillion cubic feet, enough to last over 300 years. 46 percent of Canada’s natural gas production is currently exported to the United States.
IF WE EXPORT NATURAL GAS TO THE U.S., WHY DO WE NEED TO EXPORT IT AS LNG TO OTHER COUNTRIES?
Right now, the U.S. is Canada’s only customer for our natural gas exports.
The average price Canada gets for its natural gas in U.S. markets has dropped from an average of $4.18/MMbtu (one million British Thermal Units) from 2007 to 2016 to just $1.54/ MMbtu in 2018.
When we liquefy our natural gas, we can export it to other countries on LNG carriers, where the price is higher than when we ship it to the U.S. in pipelines. Liquefying natural gas adds value, because it also creates a new industry. This means new jobs and new revenue for governments to help pay for the services we all enjoy such as healthcare, transportation, roads, education and public safety.
