A dive into India’s planned investments to create infrastructure for the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for its long-haul transportation.
Setting LNG stations
Oil Minister Dharmendra Prasad recently laid the foundation stone for the first 50 LNG fueling stations. Dharmendra Pradhan lays foundation stone for first 50 LNG fueling stations which will be step set up on the Golden Quadrilateral highways connecting four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
During the virtual event, Pradhan said that In the next three years, ₹10,000 crore will be spent on setting up of 1,000 LNG stations in the private and public sector.
For the future
LNG is a natural gas cooled into a liquid form for the ease of transportation. It is used as an alternative source of fuel for automotive vehicles. It is favoured for heavy vehicles due to its higher energy density than compressed natural gas (CNG) and is considered good for long-distance transportation. The government is also intending to push LNG use for equipment related to the mining sector.
LNG is expected to reduce the cost of operation as well as reduce carbon emissions. Pradhan said that the use of LNG in heavy vehicles will cut fuel costs by 40% compared with diesel and help contain inflation. Use of LNG will also help India in meeting its commitment made under the Paris accord to cut greenhouse gas emission intensity of its gross domestic product by 33% to 35% below 2005 levels by 2030, he added. He also expects the dependency on crude oil to come down once they start buying more LNG.
To cut dependency on coal and liquid fuels, the government last year targeted to raise the share of natural gas consumption to 15% by 2020–30 in the country’s energy basket from the current share of 6.2%.
Consumption
India stands third in the world’s largest energy and oil consumption followed by China and the U.S. The country has also been among the top importers of LNG globally as its domestic production for natural gas has been declining, however, the consumption seems to be growing. Looks like the import trend will continue given the push by the government for the usage of LNG as its long-distance and cheaper source of fuel.
Not just India, other countries are also increasingly shifting to liquefied natural gas (LNG) as their fuel of choice, displacing coal and producing energy with less greenhouse gas emissions.
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