CNG News: 10 September, 2010

Natural gas and environmental challenges in Chile

Our country is facing important decisions about their environmental future that affect areas that directly impact our economic development. Indeed, is pending an emission standard for the thermoelectric sector, which was chosen to differentiate the emission levels to meet depending on the type of fuel used to generate electricity, clearly favoring the solids such as coal, which emissions are high compared to those liquids or gases. Also, the country is ready to formalize a rule regulating the emission of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) than in the most polluted cities is due in large part to the use of solid fuels for heating, such as firewood. Additionally, the government has favored a public transport system based on diesel vehicles and gasoline taxis. In all these alternatives, the simplistic economic analysis suggests the cheaper fuel option by excluding consideration of social and environmental costs of using different alternatives. How is that diesel vehicles, which emit a large amount of particulate matter, are traveling at less cost by the city, being also emissions of nitrogen oxides are at least 9.5 times that of natural gas cars? How can we understand that Chile establish limits on conversions of cars to natural gas, in circumstances that developed countries are promoting the use of these vehicles with low emissions technology and hybrids, with tax benefits and exclusive access to certain areas of cities? Why is not monitored dual chamber stoves that emit, according to official figures, 500 times more particulate matter than its equivalent in natural gas? Clearly the incentives are in the wrong places, giving rise to a distortion between emissions and environmental costs that should be incorporated in the analysis. Moreover, the definitions adopted in environmental matters should consider the energy with which account-or could have at a reasonable cost, the country. In that sense, natural gas is the cleanest in the range of fuels available in the national energy matrix, both in relation to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases such as local pollutants. Indeed, the combustion of natural gas emits almost 30% less carbon dioxide than oil and 45% less than coal. In addition, natural gas does not emit virtually no particles in the atmosphere, in fact, particulate emissions from the combustion of natural gas are 90% lower than the combustion of oil and 99% lower than coal. Thanks to the construction of the LNG regasification terminal in Quintero and Mejillones bays, Chile now has this fuel on a continuous, competitive and environmentally friendly mode. If our country truly wants to combat environmental pollution in a long-term perspective and achieve a standard compatible with our partners in the OECD, it is essential to have the support of clear policy, which quantify the externalities of power generation from different fuels, and thus encourage the use of those cleaner, such as natural gas, to meet the regulations imposed by the authority and satisfy the interest of people and to support productive activities. By Carlos Cortés, executive secretary of Natural Gas Distributors Association of Chile, and Marcelo Mena, PhD researcher at the MIT Center for Global Change and professor at the School of Environmental Engineering of Chile, UNAB. G.E.T. Worldwide Ltd: CNG turnkey refuelling station - CNG vertical reciprocating compressor