Cheniere initiating wellhead-to-delivery emissions tracking

Cheniere Energy Inc. plans to begin providing its LNG customers with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data associated with each LNG cargo produced at its Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi liquefaction plants. The cargo emissions tags (CE tags) are designed to enhance environmental transparency by quantifying the estimated GHG emissions of LNG cargoes from wellhead to cargo delivery. The company expects to provide CE tags to customers beginning in 2022, with the ultimate goal of providing dynamic GHG emissions data.

The CE tags will use Cheniere’s proprietary lifecycle analysis (LCA) model, built incorporating accounting frameworks from LCAs created by the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, and will use publicly available data from value chain participants, as well as operational data from both Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi.

Cheniere’s 30-million tonne/year (tpy) Sabine Pass plant has been operating since 2016. It produces from five trains and the company expects to put a sixth train in service during 2022 (OGJ Online, Aug. 7, 2020). Cheniere’s 10-million tpy Corpus Christi plant has been producing from two trains since 2019 and expects to add a third in 2021. 

One of the sticking points in expanding US LNG exports to Europe has been concern on the part of potential customers regarding GHG emissions.