What Is Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)?
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been converted into liquid form for easy and safe transportation. Natural gas is cooled to about -260 F to form a clear, colorless, non-toxic liquid that can be transported from areas with high natural gas supplies to areas where more natural gas is needed.
In a liquid state, natural gas takes up 1/600th of the space, which means the gas is 600 times smaller, making it easier to transport and store where pipeline transportation is not feasible. As the world's energy consumption increases, experts expect the LNG trade to become increasingly important.
key takeaways
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled into liquid form for transport.
Demand for LNG is growing as the world shifts to cleaner energy sources.
The top LNG exporters are Australia and Qatar, which the U.S. is expected to surpass in the next few years.
The biggest demand for LNG comes from China.
LNG is seen as an alternative fuel source for cars and other uses, not just a means of transportation.
How Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Works
LNG is primarily used to transport natural gas from one source to another. Exporters use this method when shipping to different countries and across water bodies when pipelines are not available.
There are two main approaches to bulk LNG
Cascading process
Linde method
A cascading process is when one gas is cooled by another, creating a cascading effect. The Linde process is regenerative cooling where it is compressed, cooled and expanded until it is finally cooled to a liquid.
LNG is well known as a means of transportation, but it is starting to gain mainstream adoption. The automotive industry is evaluating the use of natural gas as a fuel for internal combustion engines in road freight, off-road vehicles, marine and rail.
Global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG)
Despite having one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world, the U.S. imports a small portion of it as LNG from France and Trinidad. In fact, as of 2019, the United States was the third-largest LNG exporter and is expected to overtake Australia and Qatar as the number one exporter by 2025. 1
In 2020, the top importers of U.S. LNG were South Korea, Japan and China. 2 Future demand growth will come from Asian countries as they use LNG as an energy substitute.
Once the natural gas is liquefied, it is stored in special tankers and transported to its destination. If there is a leak or spill of any kind, there is no chance of an LNG explosion. Liquefied natural gas and the gas it contains will not explode in open air. Once the LNG is delivered, the natural gas can be expanded and converted back to its gaseous state by reheating, a process called regasification. After regasification, the natural gas is distributed to consumers through pipelines.
