Dr. Neil Walker:

I am sorry. I did not make myself sufficiently clear. If we go back to reliance on a single source, which comes through Britain, a decision may be made as a result of regulatory issues or of the Department that public support in the form of a public service obligation, PSO, levy would apply in order to make LNG viable in order to reduce the risk of a catastrophic loss of supply. There are different economic issues. Huge investment costs are involved in land-based terminals, which are not viable. There is a new technology called floating storage in which a ship containing liquified gas is brought in and just parked in Cork Harbour. They have used this in Israel for a number of years. The investment costs are somewhat less. It may not even be shipped ashore. It might be brought into the harbour and be allowed sit there in case of a failure. There are different technologies but the point is that LNG has to be produced and then compressed with huge compressors in order to liquify and refrigerate it. It then has to be stored, perhaps for weeks and weeks. Small amounts may escape unless it can be recompressed. This results in methane which has a higher potential for global warming. Finally, when it is desirable to use it, it has to be brought back up to room temperature, which also consumes energy. It is a less environmentally friendly fuel because it starts with piped gas and then all of these things have to be done to it. It is costlier and has a higher carbon footprint, but it is better than the lights going out.