Groundbreaking report documents methane emissions from LNG infrastructure in Japan
New analysis is the first to document methane emissions from Japanese LNG import terminals using optical gas imaging technology.
A new report by Oilfield Witness, Friends of the Earth Japan and Oil Change International documents significant methane emissions from LNG infrastructure along Tokyo Bay and highlights the serious climate risks across the LNG supply chain.
In February 2025, Oilfield Witness experts traveled to Japan for an unprecedented field investigation to track methane emissions from LNG import terminals and gas plants along Tokyo Bay. They captured video footage of significant methane emissions from the Futtsu LNG import terminal, Futtsu gas power plant, and the Goi LNG power plant, all operated by JERA.
“Clean natural gas is a lie,” says Sharon Wilson, Executive Director of Oilfield Witness and certified optical gas imaging thermographer who documented the methane emissions. “And when it is cooled down to transport as liquefied natural gas (LNG), it is even dirtier. The industry promised us back in 2005 that technology would stop the methane emissions. Meanwhile, methane levels continue to set new records despite their promises.”
The emission of methane is accelerating the climate crisis. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is more than 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the climate. The LNG industry is contributing to the increases in atmospheric methane emissions, especially LNG from the United States, where the oil and gas industry creates more methane emissions than any other country in the world. The scientific community has warned that the best chance to avoid catastrophic climate change is to rapidly reduce methane emissions. This requires ramping down oil and gas production and consumption.
“Despite claims by the International Energy Agency and the Japanese government, LNG is dirty across the gas supply chain and is accelerating the climate crisis, says Lorne Stockman, Research Co-Director at Oil Change International. “It is beyond time that the IEA, the oil and gas industry, and enabling governments such as Japan and the US stop spreading misinformation about gas. The only way to reduce emissions from oil and gas, and the toxic pollution they spread into communities’ air and water, is to phase out fossil fuel production and use. We have waited too long. The planet is literally burning while the oil and gas industry fiddles.”
The IEA’s own Methane Tracker data shows that the oil and gas industry’s methane emissions are massive and growing, and “have still not reached a definitive peak.” The IEA estimates that 80.5 million metric tons of methane were emitted from the global oil and gas industry in 2024, while highlighting that “methane emissions are widely underreported.” In the short term (20-year equivalency), this equates to over 6.4 billion tons of CO2. This is like adding nearly 1,700 US coal plants.
“While many environmental and social impacts have been reported regarding the LNG production process in the United States, this is the first report to show that significant pollution is also occurring when the gas is burned in Japan. As the climate crisis intensifies with extreme heat, heavy rainfall, and other disasters increasing, there is no room to pursue new fossil fuel projects if we are to stop the crisis. Nevertheless, both the Japanese government and private sector are pouring billions into LNG expansion and worsening the climate crisis. This year, Japanese companies announced participation in new U.S. gas and LNG projects and signed new LNG purchase agreements. The Japanese government must stop greenwashing and support a true decarbonization policy.” said Ayumi Fukakusa, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth Japan
Mr. Togashi, a local resident of Sodegaura City who joined the field investigation said, “I have long been concerned about emissions of CO₂—which accelerate global warming—as well as volatile organic compounds from the many factories and power plants in this area. The OGI footage is a crucial piece of evidence that visualizes pollution from LNG facilities, which is normally invisible to the naked eye. Although an LNG facility already exists in Sodegaura, Tokyo Gas is currently undergoing an environmental assessment to build a new power plant, and JERA has also announced new plans to replace its existing LNG infrastructure. For the sake of future generations and the planet, these projects must be stopped.”
Links to report and Youtube videos
