Joe Biden suspends construction of gas export terminals to Europe, citing climate ‘threat’

At the beginning of December, on the sidelines of COP28, more than 250 environmental organizations and groups asked Joe Biden to no longer authorize new liquefied natural gas terminals.

“This pause (…) takes into account what the climate crisis really is: an existential threat.” US President Joe Biden announced on Friday January 26 a moratorium on the construction of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals. The United States is the world’s leading exporter of LNG, according to data published by the international organization Cedigaz, for the first half of 2023. According to the White House, around half of LNG exports in 2023 were sent to Europe, while the continent has ended Russian gas imports since the invasion of Ukraine.

Since this surge in demand, scientists, environmentalists, but also local elected officials have warned about the consequences for the environment of an acceleration of LNG terminal projects, both in terms of public health on American soil, but also in terms of of greenhouse gas emissions.

At the beginning of December, on the sidelines of the COP28 climate conference organized in Dubai, more than 250 environmental organizations and groups asked Joe Biden to no longer authorize new LNG terminals.

Shale gas imported into Europe

“As exports increase, we must review these requests in light of the latest economic, environmental and national security analyses.”, said Energy Minister Jennifer Granholm during a conference call. No new export permits will therefore be issued before the US Department of Energy (DOE) has updated its analysis of each project, she added, assuring that the projects already validated would increase the export capacity of the United States to 1.35 billion cubic meters per day (compared to approximately 328 million cubic meters per day at the end of 2023, according to the American Energy Information Agency. )

However, in the United States, 79% of production comes from shale gas, according toadministration in charge of energy. The process for extracting this gas, hydraulic fracturing, is singled out for the damage it causes to the environment. Finally, if gas is a fossil energy that emits less CO2 than oil and coal, its extraction and transport entail a risk of methane emissions, a gas with a warming power 10 times greater than CO2.

In France, where the extraction of shale gas is prohibited, gas from the United States was delivered in November via the new floating LNG terminal in Le Havre, which since October has also been receiving gas from Norway, Algeria, Qatar, Nigeria, Angola, and even Egypt.

In a report published in October, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) feared that Europe would eventually find itself with oversized LNG import capacities compared to the moderate increase in gas demand. . Strong growth which causes IEEFA to fear in the long term “a significant gap between expected LNG demand in Europe and new regasification capacities under construction and planned.” The think tank then estimated that European demand for LNG “will not exceed 150 billion cubic meters in 2030“, which would result in a potential deviation of “nearly 256 billion cubic meters of unused capacity.