UPM Biofore Magazine 1-2018

• The first LNG shipment was from USA to UK in 1959. • UPM supplied the first LNG ship plywood insulation in 1969. • In 2017, LNG was transported by 439 LNG tankers worldwide. • LNG tankers can be insulated with plywood or steel structures. • In 2017, the total volume of LNG shipments was 258 million tonnes, which equals 3,525 TWh in energy output. This is equal to one tenth of Finland’s annual volume of energy consumption. SAILING STEADY industry, sea and land transport, and for heating private and public real estate. • A total of 114 LNG terminals were in operation in 2017, 55 in Asia. Nine more are planned. • Asia accounts for 70 per cent of LNG trade. • LNG usage has increased 5 per cent annually in the last three years. • LNG is liquefied natural gas cooled to a temperature of –163◦C for transportation by ship or lorry. • It is used in applications such as LNG FAST FACTS

“LNG is fast becoming a competitor for pipeline gas and a noteworthy alternative,” states Jari Kostama.

Insulating one tanker requires around

UPMmanufactures LNG plywood at three mills: at Joensuu in Finland, Chudovo in Russia and Otepää in Estonia. Eachmill utilises local birch logs, and the finished LNG plywood components are shipped to China and South Korea, where the majority of LNG tankers are built. “Insulating one tanker requires around 2,500 cubic metres of plywood. That’s a massive amount. The construction of plywood components for one tanker takes around one month,” explains KimmoWilska , Mill Director of the Joensuu plywoodmill. What’s in the pipeline? Although LNG currently accounts for only ten per cent of gas usage against 90 per cent pipeline gas, its use has increased five per cent annually in the last three years. “LNG is fast becoming a competitor for pipeline gas and a noteworthy alternative,” states Jari Kostama , Director of Finnish Energy, the representative organisation of Finnish energy producers. Amid growing demand for LNG, new terminals are being planned and built at an increasing pace. “In 2017, there were 114 finished terminals, 18 under construction, and nine more being planned. All three LNG terminal projects in Finland have been initiated in the last five years. That’s a good

indication of the rapid pace of growth,” Kostama notes. The use of LNG is growing constantly all over the world. This growth is especially rapid in Asia, which accounted for 70 per cent of global LNG trade last year. The fastest growing Asianmarkets are Japan, South Korea and China. “The main reason is the low energy reserves in these countries, but also high population growth and efforts to curb massive emissions, especially in China,” Kostama explains. environmental issues have been high on the agenda for many years, 82–83 per cent of the fuels used in the world are still fossil-based. Natural gas is a significantly better alternative to oil or coal, but it is still not entirely emission-free. “Even though natural gas is free fromparticle and sulphur emissions, and its nitrogen emissions are controllable, it’s still a source of carbon dioxide emissions, though considerably less pollutive than traditional energy sources,” Kostama affirms. While natural gas is a low-emission energy source compared to traditional alternatives, Kostama predicts that completely emission-free alternatives are on the horizon. “They’re still decades away, but I believe they’re coming.” Emission-free horizons Kostama notes that although

CUBIC METRES OF PLYWOOD 2,500

WISA BIRCH PLYWOOD COMPONENTS for LNG carriers are always manufactured and delivered according to the specific requirements of each customer. The finished LNG plywood components are shipped to China and South Korea, where the majority of LNG tankers are built.

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS (LNG)

LNG PLYWOOD INSULATION STEEL COVER

–163°C

DOUBLE TRUNK OF THE SHIP

0°–+25°C

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