Energy Security

[Dayuhan]

Ulenspiegel and I discussed the issue of coal vs NG before. To some extent the European LNG terminals are already there as simple container ports which handle coal.

Container ports don't handle coal, they handle containers. Coal would move through a bulk cargo terminal, which uses very different equipment. Coal ports are typically specialized and associated with specific power plants.

The days when a port was a port are long gone... the basic need to bring ship into proximity with shore remains, but the infrastructure for handling different cargo is very different. A good example is the US and its gas terminals. The US has a number of regasifacation terminals, which are designed to receive LNG, convert it back to gas, and feed it into a distribution grid. As the US no longer imports gas, these facilities are largely useless. The US cannot export gas at this time because despite a surplus of gas, none of the terminals are equipped with the infrastructure needed to liquify gas and load it onto ships. They can take it off, but they can't put it on. The industrial plant required for liquification is completely different from that used for regasification.

Gas import or export facilities are single-purpose dedicated installations that require large investments of time and money to build. They cannot be flipped from one purpose to another, something which is occasionally overlooked in discussions.