But dependence on U.S. LNG will only “increase as time goes on” as domestic output falls during the next decade, predicted Glen Bryn-Jacobsen from National Gas.
LNG also pollutes more heavily than domestically-sourced gas — due to the regasification process and shipping — so stepping up imports could all create yet another Whitehall row between growth hawks and greenies.
Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, lead energy analyst, Europe, at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, argued the U.K. should be ramping up domestic clean energy as an alternative.
“Instead of committing to more LNG imports, risking increasing potential emission impact, the U.K. should continue reducing gas demand by scaling up renewable energy and deploying heat pumps,” she said.
“We should be doing everything we can to reduce our reliance on gas,” said Liam Hardy, head of research at the Green Alliance think tank. He added: “If we must import gas, doing this by pipeline from Norway leads to much lower emissions than shipping it from the United States.”
Those concerns are unlikely to get much of a hearing in the White House, though, where Trump has pledged to “drill, baby, drill.” He signed an executive order vowing to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Accord, a key agreement for pursuing global climate action, the evening of his inauguration.
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