LNG gas terminal opens in Netherlands

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Dutch Minister of Climate and Energy Rob Jetten opened the floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Dutch port Eemshaven on Thursday.

The gas tanker the Golar Igloo was for the first time connected to the floating gas terminal EemsEnergy and started with production from LNG, delivered by tanker, into gaseous form.

As winter nears, European nations, desperate to replace the natural gas they once bought from Russia, have embraced a short-term fix.

A series of roughly 20 floating terminals that would receive LNG from other countries and convert it into heating fuel.

Yet the plan, with the first floating terminals set to deliver natural gas by year's end, has raised alarms among scientists who fear the long-term consequences for the environment.

They warn that these terminals would perpetuate Europe's reliance on natural gas, which releases climate-warming methane and carbon dioxide when it's produced, transported and burned.

Much of the LNG that Europe hopes to receive is expected to come from the United States.