LNG as a Key to Sustainability and the Rise of Connected Green Technologies

Nowadays, energy accessibility and climate resilience are becoming increasingly important in the world's energy supply. These two factors, accessibility and greenification, are shaping the trends of the present, even though they require significant technological and economic investment. Moreover, these aspects cannot be separated since the developing part of the world must be able to meet its needs in a way that minimizes the environmental impact. From this perspective, the world's use of natural gas will become significant and, given the trends, will play a major role in the upcoming years. The answer to the widespread use of natural gas and the supply of natural gas to some of the world's primary energy-poor regions lies in the trade in liquefied natural gas (LNG), which can be distributed across continents and the entire planet. However, the process requires an investment of energy, which is found in LNG as cold energy, or so-called exergy. This cryogenic energy can be partially recovered at a certain point in the trading process, during regasification. LNG tanker cargoes are converted back into natural gas at terminals, where the cold fluid can be used to produce electricity in the organic Rankine cycle (ORC). The article focuses on this potentially recoverable energy while also exploring the economic and technical feasibility.