(Bloomberg) — Twenty-two Japanese utilities and trading houses are joining an initiative that aims to leverage their purchasing power to curb methane emissions from liquefied natural gas supply chains, as pressure mounts globally to curb the harmful greenhouse gas.
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Companies joining the Coalition for LNG Emission Abatement Toward Net Zero initiative include all of Japan’s major energy companies, as well as trading firms such as Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co., according to a copy of a report from the group seen by Bloomberg News.
The CLEAN partnership was launched in Tokyo last year by Jera Co. and Korea Gas Corp. in collaboration with the state-backed Japan Metals and Energy Safety Organization to collect data on methane emissions from individual LNG projects. The group’s expansion could increase pressure on major LNG suppliers from the US to Australia to cut methane emissions from their supply chains.
A spokesperson for Kansai Electric said the utility is considering joining the CLEAN initiative, but declined to comment on whether it has decided to participate. Spokespeople for Jogmec, Mitsubishi and Mitsui were not immediately available for comment.
Japan and South Korea are the second and third largest consumers of LNG, together accounting for 27% of global LNG imports last year. While support is growing to limit emissions of the powerful gas, scientists say concentrations of methane in the atmosphere have risen faster in the past five years than in any period since records began.
The greenhouse gas has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during its first 20 years in the atmosphere and can be released intentionally or accidentally from oil, coal and gas supply chains. Stopping these emissions is among the lowest hanging fruit in the fight against climate change.
According to the document compiled by Jogmec and seen by Bloomberg, 20 LNG projects were investigated, but only seven responded to their methane emissions.
The expansion of the CLEAN group was previously reported by Nikkei and a formal announcement is expected at the LNG Producer-Consumer Conference this Sunday in Hiroshima.
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