Green groups challenge ESRI’s finding on LNG

THE environmental group which mounted the recent High Court challenge of the Shannon LNG project was part of a joint challenge this week of ESRI research which found that the North Kerry plant would help create cheaper gas prices for Irish consumers.

The Economic and Social Research Institute recently published research showing that the proposed imports at the LNG site on the Shannon Estuary combined with a storage facility in Antrim would lead to a substantial lowering of gas prices for Irish consumers.

But in an open letter to the ESRI this week, Friends of the Irish Environment – which obtained the recent review of the Bord Pleanála planning extension for the LNG plant – Friends of the Earth and local group Safety Before LNG set out an alternative vision for the consequences of both fossil-fuel based facilities.

They claim there are hidden costs with LNG that were not fully teased out by the ESRI in its bulletin.

“LNG is a very capital- and energy-intensive industry. There is also an operational expense and a shipping expense,” the groups wrote.

“On top of that, the process is complicated and requires up to 25 per cent of the energy content of the gas, making it, therefore, a risky bet for a country that counts on gas, at a time when we need to get completely off fossil fuels,” the letter added.

“Wind and solar are now cheaper than coal and fossil gas in many regions. This means new fossil gas capacity often displaces new wind and solar, rather than old coal,” they wrote.

Ultimately, the cost of continued dependence on fossil fuels will prove far too heavy a price to pay for humanity globally, the letter suggested.