The first shipment of liquefied natural gas arrived from the United Arab Emirates in Germany.
LNG will compensate for lost Russian gas supplies, with four new terminals coming on stream in Germany alone. But while touted as a temporary fix, many fear it will be long-term as the EU gears up to become the world's largest importer of LNG.
Climatologists say the rapidly expanding use of LNG would create almost 10 times more greenhouse emissions than natural gas, undermining Europe's climate goals. And while LNG imports are key to the European Union's REPowerEU energy plan, analysts say they won't offer relief from Russia's current gas shortage until after 2024.
Compressed fossil fuel, which is made up almost entirely of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, can be transported around the world by ship. But despite LNG's export potential, the high cost of liquefying and producing LNG has limited the market for it.
In Germany, the estimated cost of building floating LNG terminals for imports to replace Russian gas has doubled, also due to higher infrastructure and operational costs.
Cooling, liquefaction and transportation processes as well as post-transport regasification procedures are also energy intensive. According to a study by German researchers including the Berlin-based climate think tank E3G, by the end of the decade, Additional costs for gas imports from Germany could reach 200 billion euros ($212 billion), doubling gas bills for consumers.
Promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy is the sustainable solution to Russia's gas shortage, experts insist.
