Astomos buys carbon-neutral LPG from Shell

Japan’s Astomos Energy Corporation has signed an agreement to purchase carbon-neutral liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Shell.

This very large gas carrier-size LPG cargo is said to be the world’s first such carbon-neutral LPG.

Astomos is planning to load this carbon-neutral LPG onto a ship owned by Astomos and to discharge it at import terminals in Japan.

Under this agreement, credits from Shell’s global portfolio of nature-based projects will be used to offset lifecycle CO2 emissions generated across the value chain from production to consumption, including transportation.

Nature-based projects enable nature to add oxygen and absorb CO2 emissions from the atmosphere. Each carbon offset is subject to a third-party verification process and represents the avoidance or removal of one tonne of CO2 emissions.

Emily Chin, Shell’s general manager for Natural Gas Liquids Trading, said: “As more ways to avoid and reduce emissions are developed at scale, using high-quality nature-based offsets to compensate for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, that are otherwise hard-to-abate, is
an immediately available solution.”

Toru Araki, Astomos’s executive vice president, COO, International Business Division, said: “Astomos is proud to lead decarbonisation of the LPG industry and contribute to the transition and realisation of Japan’s net-zero ambitions. “