The Dangers of Liquid Natural Gas and Why We Should Not Use It/液化天然氣的危險以及我們為什麼不應該使用它
by Steve Wang
Liquid Natural Gas Container:
中文版
Do you want a bomb in your city that could blow up at any second? Taiwan is going to build a liquid natural gas (LNG) receiver and storage in Taoyuan and it could potentially blow up if something goes wrong. If you do not want this to happen, then, you should vote against it being built there. I think this topic is very important not only for me to talk about but also for you to know because it is going to affect me and will also affect you if you live in Taiwan. For those who disagree with my point of view, you might be convinced when you understand what liquid natural gas is and the chance of something going wrong. Then, I will give you an example of when something does go wrong.
To understand if the storage facilities and receivers might actually blow up, we have to understand LNG. According to Shell, global group of energy and petrochemical companies, who is also a pioneer in LNG for more than 50 years,“LNG is a clear, colorless and non-toxic liquid which forms when natural gas is cooled to -162ºC (-260ºF). The cooling process shrinks the volume of the gas 600 times, making it easier and safer to store and ship”. LNG in its liquid state is not flammable but the vapors from a release or spill are flammable at concentrations of 5 to 15 percent. According to an article published in May,2021 by Delaware Currents,“if LNG were to spill near an ignition source(something which possibly causes a fire or an explosion), the evaporating gas could burn above the spill, resulting in a “pool fire” that would spread as the spill spread. Such a pool fire is intense, burning far more hotly and rapidly than crude oil or gasoline fires, and it cannot be extinguished. The risks of such an incident include thermal radiation that could be felt up to a mile away from an explosion.” In this area of Taoyuan, there are many chemical plants with Class III Toxic Chemicals and if an accident happens, these chemicals may be released. So, for everyone's safety, we should store it in other areas.
Those against my view might argue that, tanker ships have traveled more than 128 million miles without a serious accident at sea or in port, the Congressional Research Service said in a 2009 report. It is also very unlikely these accidents will happen. It may be unlikely accidents will happen at sea. However, according to the same article published by Delaware Currents, there have been 13 serious accidents involving LNG facilities. In the same article it states that in the past 10 years, there have been 22 reportable LNG incidents, resulting in a total of $82.1 million in property damage and related costs. Even Though improvements in technology have made LNG facilities safer, serious hazards remain because LNG is volatile and is usually shipped and stored in large quantities. Also, when accidents happen, the results are usually really bad. For example, because LNG is highly flammable, it might cause big fires. Another point is when it explodes, it will cause a lot of damage. There were even reports of an explosion propelling a piece of metal greater than 2,000 pounds for more than a quarter of a mile. So we should vote against building it near a city.
One accident reported in the very same article described an accident that happened during 1994. A company tried to transport LGN nearly 200 miles by rail and by highway. A tank with about 90 million cubic feet of LNG exploded, setting off the most catastrophic fire in the city's history and creating a hellscape that killed 130 people and displaced nearly 700. A second tank exploded, setting off loads of fires that destroyed 217 cars, 79 homes and two factories. The vaporizing gas then flowed along the curbs and gutters and into catch basins, through which it entered the underground sewers, exploding from time to time, ripping up pavement, damaging underground utility installations, and blowing out manhole covers. In the end, reports said that the accident was caused by human error. A small error can cause all this. We should be safe and store the LNG somewhere else so that if accidents happen it will not hurt many people.
I have now explained what LNG is, the dangers of it if accidents happen and, an example of it happening. We could prevent this from happening by not building it near cities but building it in a more secluded place. Where, if something happens, less people will get hurt and less things will get destroyed. We should all vote against building a bomb that could explode near a city. Go vote against the construction of LNG receivers and storage in Taoyuan and potentially save a lot of people from getting hurt.
Do you want a bomb in your city that could blow up at any second? Taiwan is going to build a liquid natural gas (LNG) receiver and storage in Taoyuan and it could potentially blow up if something goes wrong. If you do not want this to happen, then, you should vote against it being built there. I think this topic is very important not only for me to talk about but also for you to know because it is going to affect me and will also affect you if you live in Taiwan. For those who disagree with my point of view, you might be convinced when you understand what liquid natural gas is and the chance of something going wrong. Then, I will give you an example of when something does go wrong.
To understand if the storage facilities and receivers might actually blow up, we have to understand LNG. According to Shell, global group of energy and petrochemical companies, who is also a pioneer in LNG for more than 50 years,“LNG is a clear, colorless and non-toxic liquid which forms when natural gas is cooled to -162ºC (-260ºF). The cooling process shrinks the volume of the gas 600 times, making it easier and safer to store and ship”. LNG in its liquid state is not flammable but the vapors from a release or spill are flammable at concentrations of 5 to 15 percent. According to an article published in May,2021 by Delaware Currents,“if LNG were to spill near an ignition source(something which possibly causes a fire or an explosion), the evaporating gas could burn above the spill, resulting in a “pool fire” that would spread as the spill spread. Such a pool fire is intense, burning far more hotly and rapidly than crude oil or gasoline fires, and it cannot be extinguished. The risks of such an incident include thermal radiation that could be felt up to a mile away from an explosion.” In this area of Taoyuan, there are many chemical plants with Class III Toxic Chemicals and if an accident happens, these chemicals may be released. So, for everyone's safety, we should store it in other areas.
Those against my view might argue that, tanker ships have traveled more than 128 million miles without a serious accident at sea or in port, the Congressional Research Service said in a 2009 report. It is also very unlikely these accidents will happen. It may be unlikely accidents will happen at sea. However, according to the same article published by Delaware Currents, there have been 13 serious accidents involving LNG facilities. In the same article it states that in the past 10 years, there have been 22 reportable LNG incidents, resulting in a total of $82.1 million in property damage and related costs. Even Though improvements in technology have made LNG facilities safer, serious hazards remain because LNG is volatile and is usually shipped and stored in large quantities. Also, when accidents happen, the results are usually really bad. For example, because LNG is highly flammable, it might cause big fires. Another point is when it explodes, it will cause a lot of damage. There were even reports of an explosion propelling a piece of metal greater than 2,000 pounds for more than a quarter of a mile. So we should vote against building it near a city.
One accident reported in the very same article described an accident that happened during 1994. A company tried to transport LGN nearly 200 miles by rail and by highway. A tank with about 90 million cubic feet of LNG exploded, setting off the most catastrophic fire in the city's history and creating a hellscape that killed 130 people and displaced nearly 700. A second tank exploded, setting off loads of fires that destroyed 217 cars, 79 homes and two factories. The vaporizing gas then flowed along the curbs and gutters and into catch basins, through which it entered the underground sewers, exploding from time to time, ripping up pavement, damaging underground utility installations, and blowing out manhole covers. In the end, reports said that the accident was caused by human error. A small error can cause all this. We should be safe and store the LNG somewhere else so that if accidents happen it will not hurt many people.
I have now explained what LNG is, the dangers of it if accidents happen and, an example of it happening. We could prevent this from happening by not building it near cities but building it in a more secluded place. Where, if something happens, less people will get hurt and less things will get destroyed. We should all vote against building a bomb that could explode near a city. Go vote against the construction of LNG receivers and storage in Taoyuan and potentially save a lot of people from getting hurt.
Chinese Version
你想在你的國家有一顆隨時可能爆炸的炸彈嗎？台灣將在桃園建造一個液化天然氣 (LNG) 接收器和儲存器，如果出現問題，它可能會爆炸。如果您不希望這種情況發生，那麼您應該投票反對它的建造。我認為這個話題不僅對我來說很重要，對你來說也很重要，因為它會影響我，如果你住在台灣也會影響你。對於那些不同意我的觀點的人，當您了解液化天然氣是什麼以及出現問題的可能性時，您可能會被說服。然後，我將舉一個例子說明什麼時候出現問題。
要了解儲存設施和接收器是否真的會爆炸，我們必須了解液化天然氣。作為 50 多年 LNG 領域的先驅，殼牌表示，“LNG 是一種清澈、無色、無毒的液體，當天然氣冷卻到 -162ºC (-260ºF) 時會形成。冷卻過程使氣體體積縮小了 600 倍，使儲存和運輸更容易、更安全。”液態 LNG 不易燃，但釋放或溢出的蒸氣在 5% 至 15% 的濃度下可燃。根據 Delaware Currents 於 2021 年 5 月發表的一篇文章，“如果 LNG 在點火源（可能引起火災或爆炸的東西）附近溢出，蒸發的氣體可能會在溢出物上方燃燒，從而導致“池火” ”這將隨著洩漏的蔓延而蔓延。這種池火非常猛烈，比原油或汽油火燃燒得更快、更熱，而且無法撲滅。此類事件的風險包括在距離爆炸一英里的地方都能感受到的熱輻射。”在桃園這個區域，有很多化工廠，有三級有毒化學品，一旦發生事故，這些化學品可能會被釋放出來。所以，為了大家的安全，我們應該把它存放在其他地方。
國會研究服務處在 2009 年的一份報告中說，那些反對我觀點的人可能會爭辯說，油輪已經航行了超過 1.28 億英里，沒有在海上或港口發生嚴重事故。這些事故也不太可能發生。海上發生事故的可能性不大。然而，根據特拉華電流公司發表的同一篇文章，涉及液化天然氣設施的嚴重事故有 13 起。在同一篇文章中，它指出在過去 10 年中，發生了 22 起可報告的液化天然氣事故，造成總計 8210 萬美元的財產損失和相關費用。儘管技術進步使 LNG 設施更安全，但由於 LNG 易揮發且通常大量運輸和儲存，因此仍然存在嚴重的危險。此外，當事故發生時，結果通常非常糟糕。例如，由於液化天然氣高度易燃，因此可能會引起大火。還有一點就是爆炸的時候，會造成很大的傷害。甚至有報導稱爆炸將一塊超過 2,000 磅的金屬推進了四分之一英里以上。所以我們應該投票反對在城市附近建造它。
同一篇文章中報導的一起事故描述了 1994 年發生的一起事故。一家公司試圖通過鐵路和公路將 LGN 運輸近 200 英里。一個裝有約 9000 萬立方英尺 LNG 的罐發生爆炸，引發了該市歷史上最嚴重的火災，造成了 130 人死亡、近 700 人流離失所的地獄景象。第二個罐爆炸，引發了大量火災，摧毀了 217 輛汽車， 79 個家庭和兩個工廠。蒸發的氣體然後沿著路緣和排水溝流入集水池，通過集水池進入地下下水道，不時爆炸，撕裂路面，損壞地下公用設施，並炸毀井蓋。最後，報導稱事故是由人為錯誤造成的。一個小錯誤就可能導致這一切。我們應該安全地將液化天然氣儲存在其他地方，這樣如果發生事故，就不會傷害很多人。
我現在已經解釋了液化天然氣是什麼、發生事故時的危險性以及發生事故的例子。我們可以通過不在城市附近建造它，而是將它建造在一個更隱蔽的地方來防止這種情況發生。在那裡，如果發生了什麼事，受傷的人會更少，被破壞的東西也會更少。我們都應該投票反對建造可能在城市附近爆炸的炸彈。投票反對在桃園建造液化天然氣接收器和儲存裝置，可能會挽救很多人免受傷害。
现在公投结束了。公投结果是要把天然气接收站盖在桃园。虽然我认为这不是最安全的选择可是应该是最好的选择。毕竟大家同意该在哪里也是有他们的考虑。他们可能觉得好处多于坏处。大家应该还是有考虑过爆炸的问题。可是几率应该是很低的。现在最重要的应该是要看接下来政府怎么去盖天然气接收站。如果政府盖得好，那应该就没有问题。可是我还是觉得这还是有点危险。如果要更安全盖在别的地方会比较好。