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.

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