Project

Study on the environmental profile of liquefied natural gas in the Côte-Nord region

Comparison of the environmental profiles of process heat generation on the Côte-Nord using four scenarios of liquefied natural gas and the reference scenario based on the current use of light and heavy fuel oil.

The Côte-Nord region, an important industrial region of Quebec, is currently not served by natural gas. Moreover, the electrical technologies currently available do not meet the energy needs of all industrial activities. Consequently, the consumption of petroleum products, particularly fuel oil, is significant in this region. Since it has been shown that fuel oil (light and heavy) is one of the energy sources generating the most greenhouse gases during its combustion, alternative solutions are being considered. With this in mind, a call for projects was issued in 2018 to identify suppliers who would be able to serve the region with liquefied natural gas (LNG). Conducted by CIRAIG, the objective of this study is to compare the life cycle environmental profiles of process heat generation on the Côte-Nord using four considered scenarios involving liquefied natural gas, as well as the reference scenario based on the currently used light and heavy fuel oil. This study therefore provides an understanding of the environmental impacts across the entire value chain (extraction, processing, transmission/distribution, liquefaction/storage, transportation, regasification and utilization), much better than a simple GHG balance sheet only related to the utilization phase. The results of this study will be used to further inform decision makers on the environmental indicator results of the scenarios considered, for an assessment of the region’s energy supply.

In collaboration with

Similar projects

Open source Input-Output LCA model and tool to estimate life cycle impacts of products and services

Biomass energy, or bioenergy, is energy produced from renewable biomass, for which the assessment of environmental impacts through life cycle assessment (LCA) presents a number of challenges, in particular methodological ones. The general objectives of this study are to analyze current practices for carrying out LCAs of biomass energy, and to provide recommendations on current and future best practices.

Food choices have a significant climate impact, which can be unknown to the public. The CIRAIG, commissioned by Polytechnique Montréal, has been tasked with calculating the climate-warming impact of the menus offered by the cafeteria, aiming to enable students to understand the impact of their meals and change their eating habits to reduce it.

Subscribe to our newsletter !