We all learned at an early age about the three stages of matter: there are solids, liquids, and gasses. Those all make sense to us, and we interact with those different types of matter on a daily basis.
We also intuitively know that it’s possible to change the state of matter, either by altering the temperature or the pressure that it’s under. The most common example of this is in our freezers at home: by cooling water below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, we change its state from liquid to solid.
It turns out that energy producers also change the state of matter of natural gas at certain times, making liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Liquefied natural gas is a crucial component of our energy supply chain, and there’s a good chance you haven’t heard much about it.
Let’s dive into LNG, and learn what liquefied natural gas is, why and how it’s created, what it’s used for, and what it means for our daily lives.
What Is Liquefied Natural Gas?
Let’s start at the beginning by answering the question “what is liquefied natural gas?” Liquefied natural gas is a very specific product that’s made from natural gas, a fossil fuel drilled out of the ground by energy providers.
In its natural state, natural gas is, well, gaseous. But if it’s processed in a very specific manner, it can be turned from its gaseous form into a liquid state.
This phase change — moving from gas to liquid — happens naturally with water vapor through a process we call condensation. If you’ve ever gotten your feet wet walking through morning dew on a lawn, you’ve experienced the effects of this phase change.
With LNG, energy producers have to use very specific facilities and processes to make this process called liquefaction possible.
How Is Liquefied Natural Gas Produced?
Liquefied natural gas is produced through a process called liquefaction, which occurs only at specific facilities — appropriately named liquefaction plants. Natural gas is sent to these liquefaction facilities via natural gas pipelines.
Once natural gas arrives at an LNG liquefaction facility in its gaseous state, it runs through a series of processes to help purify it and remove any water or other impurities like carbon dioxide, leaving only the combustible methane that will ultimately be used as an energy source.
Natural gas liquids (NGLs) are extracted from the raw natural gas supply at this point as well. Propane and butane are two common NGLs, and these are often sold separately.
After this refining process is complete and only natural gas (in its gaseous state) is left, it’s time for liquefaction. At a basic level, liquefaction is similar to freezing, just with different states of matter.
Reducing the temperature of a liquid low enough will turn it into a solid (again, think of those ice cubes in your freezer), but the same applies for gasses. Reduce the temperature of a gas low enough, and you get a liquid.
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There’s a catch, though. The temperatures you need to reach to turn natural gas into liquefied natural gas are extremely low. Specifically, you need to cool the natural gas to -260 degrees Fahrenheit!
This is why liquefaction has to occur at special liquefaction plants. It’s not easy cooling something down to such a low temperature, which begs the question: Why go through all of the effort? Read on to find out.
Why Is Liquefied Natural Gas Necessary?
Now that we have the “what” and the “how” for LNG figured out, it’s time to dig into the “why.” Why do energy companies go through so much effort to cool natural gas in order to turn it into a liquid?
The answer is transportation. The goal of any energy ecosystem is to match energy supply with demand, and the job is only just beginning once you drill a fossil fuel like natural gas out of the ground.
For natural gas, the simplest and most cost-effective transportation method is through gas pipelines. However, pipelines are only a viable option if the location of the natural gas supply is relatively close to the customers it’ll eventually serve, and if there isn’t a large body of water in between those two ends of the supply chain.
If you’re looking to transport natural gas across an ocean, or halfway around the world, pipelines are no longer an option. You need to transport it by ship. For oil, another fossil fuel, this is a relatively simple operation, because oil is stored in barrels and these barrels can be loaded as cargo on a ship.
Shipping is more complicated for natural gas for two reasons. First, the volume of natural gas that a ship could transport in its gaseous form is too small to make economic sense. Secondly, natural gas in its gaseous form is combustible, which poses a danger to the ship.
Here’s where liquefied natural gas comes in: The volume of LNG is 600 times smaller than natural gas in its gaseous state, and it’s also no longer combustible. This means that special LNG tankers fitted with LNG storage containers and refrigeration equipment can transport natural gas around the world safely and cost effectively.
How Is Liquefied Natural Gas Used?
Liquefied natural gas is only useful in transportation. Once LNG has been loaded onto an LNG carrier and shipped to its end destination, it needs to be turned back into a gas in order to be burned to create electricity at a natural gas-fired power plant.
This process of turning LNG back into natural gas is called regasification, and it completes the life cycle of liquefied natural gas by warming it up in a safe environment to a temperature in which it’s no longer in liquid form.
Regasification plants are fundamentally different from liquefaction facilities. As a result, in this ecosystem of global LNG trade, there are LNG export terminals that are outfitted for liquefaction, and LNG import terminals that are outfitted for regasification.
Once LNG is turned back into natural gas at an import LNG facility, it’s once again suitable for transportation via pipeline to its buyer.
Alternatively, LNG can also be put into storage containers. Oftentimes LNG is stored during warm-weather months as a way to save up for cold-weather months, when it’ll be used to help supply the market during times of peak demand.
This process is called peak shaving, and it’s an important way to help meet electricity and heating demand on the coldest days of the year.
Additional LNG FAQs
We now have a firm grasp on the what, how, and why of LNG, but a few questions still remain about this important part of our global energy network. Let’s answer some of the most frequently asked questions about liquefied natural gas.
Is Liquefied Natural Gas Toxic?
No, LNG is non-toxic. In fact, LNG is both non-corrosive and non-combustible, making it a much safer form of energy than its combustible gaseous form.
Is Liquefied Natural Gas Renewable?
LNG is not renewable because it’s a specific form of natural gas, which is a fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable because there’s a finite supply of them on our planet.
Is Liquefied Natural Gas Considered Clean Energy?
It depends on how you define clean energy. As a form of natural gas, LNG is a fossil fuel, and like crude oil and coal, it produces greenhouse gas emissions once it’s eventually used for energy purposes. It’s nowhere near as clean as renewable energy sources like wind or solar power, which produce no greenhouse gas emissions.
However, natural gas is on the cleaner end of the emissions spectrum when it comes to fossil fuels. When burned, natural gas emits roughly half the greenhouse gasemissions as coal, so while you might not call LNG completely clean energy, it’s cleaner than some other options.
What Does Liquefied Natural Gas Look Like?
Liquefied natural gas is colorless (and odorless), which means if you were somehow able to sneak a peek at it, it wouldn’t look much different from water.
That said, you’re not likely to ever see LNG. Once natural gas has been supercooled in the liquefaction process and turned into liquefied natural gas, it’s kept in specially made storage tanks that keep it at that low temperature. These containers don’t have viewing windows, which means LNG stays hidden from view for most of the world.
Who Are the Main LNG Players in the Global Gas Market?
Let’s take a quick look at which countries are the biggest exporters of LNG, and which are the biggest importers.
LNG Exporters
The three biggest suppliers in the global LNG industry are Australia, Qatar, and the United States, in that order. The U.S. LNG industry is growing rapidly, and our LNG export capacity is expected to be the world’s largest by the end of 2022, as we continue to bring more LNG export facilities online.
Russia, Nigeria, Algeria, and Malaysia round out the list of major LNG exporters.
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LNG Importers
Japan, South Korea, and China are the biggest LNG importers in the world, in that order. Interestingly the United States — the world’s third-biggest exporter of LNG — also has the world’s fourth-largest import capacity for liquefied natural gas. This is because the United States constructed its LNG import facilities just before the shale gas boom, before the U.S. was producing enough gas domestically to sell abroad.
Europe is another major LNG import market, and a number of LNG projects are underway across the continent to increase its LNG import capacity.
The Importance of LNG
You now know the ins and outs of liquefied natural gas, and hopefully you have a greater appreciation for the work LNG supply does to help gas suppliers meet gas demand all over the world.
It’s not easy matching energy supply with energy demand, and in our interconnected world that task now has a global scope. When natural gas pipelines can’t do the job, LNG can, and that makes liquefied natural gas a vital piece of our global energy puzzle.
If you enjoyed learning more about LNG and would like to read more about other energy topics, check out the Tara Energy blog.
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