Activists protest against a planned LNG terminal. (source: TASR)
"Gas fuels the climate crisis" was the slogan of a protest of dozens of activists from Greenpeace Slovakia and other organisations against an LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal on Wednesday, July 14. The Verejné Prístavy company, the operator of public ports, plans to build the €40 million terminal in a public port on the Danube close to the centre of Bratislava.
Activists are rejecting the construction of the terminal as well as any other fossil infrastructure. The investor respects the protest but does not understand it as a few days ago, at the request of Greenpeace, an expert discussion was held on this topic.Activists are rejecting the construction of the terminal as well as any other fossil infrastructure. The investor respects the protest but does not understand it as a few days ago, at the request of Greenpeace, an expert discussion was held on this topic.
Activists protested on kayaks on the Danube and there was a protest bike ride, too. They say the proposed terminal undermines climate goals.
“We need to shift away from fossil fuels and LNG terminals, which will tie us to their use for decades,” said Katarína Juríková, director of Greenpeace Slovakia, as cited by the TASR newswire. “Using public funds for fossil gas infrastructure is unacceptable. Gas is one of the causes of the climate crisis, not its solution.”
Greenpeace Slovakia believes the investor's argument that this will reduce greenhouse gas emissions is misleading. Building the terminal near the city centre, residential areas and refinery is also a safety risk, it added. Supporting fossil gas will only accelerate and worsen the climate crisis, the activists claim.
“Due to methane emissions the natural gas is as harmful as coal,” the activists said.
The construction of the LNG terminal in the port of Bratislava is a national project in the field of transport infrastructure development that has been in the pipeline for several years, noted Verejné Prístavy.
“The feasibility study shows that the construction of LNG terminals in inland ports and the use of this type of alternative fuel in transport represents an active achievement of the EU’s environmental goals,” the company claims, adding that the use of cleaner alternative fuels, which include LNG, is a necessary condition for making water transport greener.
Verejné Prístavy claims that LNG significantly reduces CO2 production and produces almost no particulate matter.
“The introduction of LNG will increase air quality and reduce the number of deaths due to pollution,” said the company. “The project also counts on the use of bio LNG in the future, which represents a huge potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
The project is in the feasibility study phase, which is co-financed by EU funds.
