The discussions with foreign countries come as the United States increases its exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe.
ENERGYWIRE | HOUSTON — The Biden administration is working with foreign countries and the fossil fuel industry to set a global standard for assessing the climate change impacts of liquefied natural gas shipments, a top Energy Department official said Tuesday.
“We have been engaging with governments in Europe — also in the [Persian] Gulf and with our East Asian allies — talking about the need for a common framework for how we measure the greenhouse gas intensity of natural gas across the whole supply chain,” Brad Crabtree, assistant secretary in DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, said in an interview.
Crabtree, who spoke on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference, is helping to spearhead that international collaboration, alongside Biden administration officials in the State Department and EPA.
“It’s ultimately not just natural gas. It’s oil and other fossil fuels. But natural gas — with the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis — is the focus right now,” he said. Crabtree said a major priority is avoiding systems where “it’s industry overseeing industry” in the verifications.
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One such verification system, Project Canary, is based in Colorado. CEO Chris Romer is pushing for Energy Department action.
“They clearly want to coordinate what are the environmental assessments — the minimum environmental assessments,” Romer said. “I think they’re trying to come up with a floor.”