‘Too much hype over environmental friendliness’: Former energy minister says Russian gas four times cleaner than American LNG

Russian piped gas that is transferred to Europe has a carbon footprint four times smaller than the liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipped by the US, according to Russia's Deputy PM and former energy minister Alexander Novak.

Novak’s comments came shortly after US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm questioned the environmental friendliness of Russian gas, alleging that the fuel is the “dirtiest” in the world.

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“The issue of environmental friendliness of this or that product is currently very overhyped, however, if the problem is addressed seriously with a proper assessment of objective evidence, the result may surprise the observers,” Novak said.

He noted that Russian gas supplied to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline has an “almost four times smaller carbon footprint than gas delivered to Europe from the US.”

According to Novak, this is due to the fact that most US gas is extracted by fracking, which involves drilling into the ground and releasing gas and oil from shale rock.

Fracking is one of the most environmentally unfriendly ways of pulling hydrocarbons. After being extracted from shale rock the US gas is piped to a liquefaction facility. Then, the LNG is transported to Europe by tankers, thus, additionally increasing the total greenhouse gas emissions left throughout the life cycle of US gas.

The former energy minister added that Russia pays great attention to ensuring its environmental leadership, as well as to supplying clean energy to its partners.

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