Greenpeace, the global environmental organisation, said on Monday that large oil and gas corporations in China and other countries are "greenwashing" their natural gas imports by utilising cheap carbon offsets, all the while not adhering to strict emission reduction targets.
Long-term contracts with Shell have been negotiated by companies such as PetroChina and CNOOC Gas and Power to purchase "carbon neutral" LNG, which uses "forest offsets" to balance out carbon emissions.
The "carbon neutral" label, according to Greenpeace, is deceiving the public. Greenpeace has long opposed fossil fuel companies counting carbon offsets towards their emissions reduction targets.
"For oil and gas companies in particular, carbon offsets are a smokescreen to obscure their continued, redoubled carbon emissions," said Li Jiatong, project leader with Greenpeace in Beijing.
There were no comments on the issue from PetroChina.
The parent firm of CNOOC Oil and Gas stated that it was not directly involved in buying LNG. Regarding Greenpeace's report, Shell opted not to comment.
According to Greenpeace, a large number of the offsets were not being measured consistently and occasionally were being double tallied. Furthermore, many woods associated with offset programmes were susceptible to fires that could cause them to become carbon sources rather than sinks.
According to Greenpeace, credits from 15 forestry carbon sink initiatives in China—which involved Shell, PetroChina, CNOOC, and other companies—have already been banked. However, eighty percent of the projects involved planting trees that are flammable.
Growing gas demand, especially in Asia, is fueling rising sales of "carbon neutral" LNG. According to Greenpeace, almost 85% of carbon neutral shipments have been sold to Asian customers.
According to the International Energy Agency, China's petrol consumption is predicted to increase to 250 billion cubic metres by 2026 from 216 billion cubic metres the previous year, or nearly half of the total increase in global demand during that time.
"Carbon neutral" gas is expected to be discussed at the COP28 negotiations, which begin this week, according to Polly Hemming, the Australia Institute's director of the Climate and Energy Programme.
Gas is cleaner than coal and has been called a "bridge fuel" in the global energy transition, while anti-fossil fuel activists are against any new gas projects. Despite this, gas is still a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
"Stapling those offsets to fossil fuels and claiming that they are net zero - it's bonkers," said Hemming.
(Source:www.firstpost.com)
Long-term contracts with Shell have been negotiated by companies such as PetroChina and CNOOC Gas and Power to purchase "carbon neutral" LNG, which uses "forest offsets" to balance out carbon emissions.
The "carbon neutral" label, according to Greenpeace, is deceiving the public. Greenpeace has long opposed fossil fuel companies counting carbon offsets towards their emissions reduction targets.
"For oil and gas companies in particular, carbon offsets are a smokescreen to obscure their continued, redoubled carbon emissions," said Li Jiatong, project leader with Greenpeace in Beijing.
There were no comments on the issue from PetroChina.
The parent firm of CNOOC Oil and Gas stated that it was not directly involved in buying LNG. Regarding Greenpeace's report, Shell opted not to comment.
According to Greenpeace, a large number of the offsets were not being measured consistently and occasionally were being double tallied. Furthermore, many woods associated with offset programmes were susceptible to fires that could cause them to become carbon sources rather than sinks.
According to Greenpeace, credits from 15 forestry carbon sink initiatives in China—which involved Shell, PetroChina, CNOOC, and other companies—have already been banked. However, eighty percent of the projects involved planting trees that are flammable.
Growing gas demand, especially in Asia, is fueling rising sales of "carbon neutral" LNG. According to Greenpeace, almost 85% of carbon neutral shipments have been sold to Asian customers.
According to the International Energy Agency, China's petrol consumption is predicted to increase to 250 billion cubic metres by 2026 from 216 billion cubic metres the previous year, or nearly half of the total increase in global demand during that time.
"Carbon neutral" gas is expected to be discussed at the COP28 negotiations, which begin this week, according to Polly Hemming, the Australia Institute's director of the Climate and Energy Programme.
Gas is cleaner than coal and has been called a "bridge fuel" in the global energy transition, while anti-fossil fuel activists are against any new gas projects. Despite this, gas is still a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
"Stapling those offsets to fossil fuels and claiming that they are net zero - it's bonkers," said Hemming.
(Source:www.firstpost.com)
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