Natural gas has 600 times less volume in liquid form than gaseous, and LNG can be transported by ship, truck or rail to places traditional natural gas pipelines cannot reach, or can even be used as a fuel directly. LNG, or liquefied natural gas, is natural gas that has been super-cooled (−162☌) to a liquid state for easier storage and transportation. This factsheet looks at the current LNG situation in Germany and Europe and outlines the government’s plans for the future. The government argues that a significant "safety buffer" is necessary to secure German and European supply. NGOs and researchers criticise the government for pushing for a "massively oversized" import capacity, citing an expected decrease of gas demand and substantial capacity in neighbouring countries. Germany has a well-developed natural gas pipeline grid and is connected to terminals in neighbouring countries, but until recently did not have its own port to receive LNG directly. It is planning with permanent land-based import terminals, while leasing floating units in the short term – the first of which was inaugurated in December 2022. As part of these efforts, the government is going full steam ahead in supporting the build-up of the country’s own import infrastructure for liquefied natural gas (LNG). The war in Ukraine has pushed efforts to diversify Germany’s gas supply away from Russian deliveries to the top of the government’s agenda.
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