Is Natural Gas a Good Energy Solution?

The proposed Port Ambrose deepwater LNG terminal near New York City has been denounced by environmentalists as a dirty and dangerous export terminal in disguise. The reality is that LNG is the safest and cleanest fuel available and natural gas is critical in efforts to eliminate air pollution and save lives in New York City.

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Protesters showed up at a public hearing to encourage Governor Cuomo to veto the proposal for the terminal.

The Port Ambrose LNG terminal should be appreciated by environmentalists as a technological marvel that helps provide much needed seasonal supplies of clean natural gas to the New York City region, saving lives today through improved air quality, keeping utility costs down for rich and poor alike, and all in an engineering package that has the barest of ecological impacts.

The background on this project is expanding demand for natural gas in the region and constraints in the gas pipeline infrastructure that causes daily spot prices to spike with increases in demand.

New York City is currently undergoing an ambitious program to improve air quality and save lives in the region by switching out thousands of highly polluting fuel oil furnaces for natural gas furnaces. PlaNYC was begun under Mayor Bloomberg and continues under Mayor DeBlasio.

New York City and Long Island are major natural gas demand centers that have historically suffered from pipeline constraints that cause daily spot prices to spike as demand fluctuates. The chart below from the US EIA clearly shows the price volatility.

The Port Ambrose LNG import terminal is intended to complement other pipeline improvements by providing alternative gas supply that can flexibly come and go to meet seasonal demand. .

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The technology that is intended for Port Ambrose is truly innovative. Unlike previous proposals for the region that involved constructing artificial islands as ports for large LNG vessels, the current proposal is an exercise in minimalism. The buried gas pipeline is connected to a buoy system that rests on the ocean floor when not in use, with only a small marker buoy visible on the surface. A specially designed SRV that carries both the cargo and the regasification equipment, connects to the submerged buoy and injects gas into the pipeline. The regasification process takes around 24 hours and in case of bad weather or emergency the SRV can disconnect and sail out to sea in 15 minutes. There are no water discharges or any kind of effluent deposited in the water at any time…

Port Ambrose in not a bait and switch.  LNG is the safest and cleanest of all fuels. LNG can easily co-exist with wind farms.  During the actual Superstorm Sandy, the natural gas infrastructure in Manhattan remained functional when the electric power grid went down.

LNG is clean energy,

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