IEA chief paints rosy picture for LNG industry

Supporters of B.C.’s liquefied natural gas industry tout the benefits of LNG as potentially driving down greenhouse gas emissions, especially in China, which has been aggressively switching from coal to natural gas for power. While the growth in demand for LNG in China has been indeed impressive, it’s not necessarily due to concerns about climate change said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“The main driver here of China’s very strong gas use is environmental issues, but not necessarily climate change – air pollution in the cities,’ Birol told delegates at a discussion session on LNG in global energy transition May 28, during the second day of the three-day Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) conference in Vancouver.

“We see that almost half of the growth in the world energy came from natural gas,” he said.