A Life Cycle Assessment of Western Australian LNG Production and Export to the Chinese Market

The use of LNG can contribute lower GHG emissions than traditional petroleum products. The material and resources consumed in producing LNG from exploration to liquefaction and transport stages however do contribute to GHG emissions.

In reviewing the carbon footprint of the production and transportation of 1m3 of LNG to China, this LCA has confirmed that the production and liquefaction stage generates the most GHG emissions (45.4%), followed by the natural gas exploration and separation stage (39%) and the exportation and transportation stage (15.7%). Energy consumption is the main contributor to GHG emissions.

The utilisation of wind power energy as a replacement of gas fired electricity generation could possibly reduce the ‘energy consumption’ related GHG emissions of LNG production by some 36-51%. Similarly, the utilisation of carbon capture and storage to sequester the GHG emitted during electricity production could potentially reduce ‘energy consumption’ related GHG emissions by 33-45%.