At the heart of their movement is this warning: liquefied natural gas (LNG) is not the solution to the energy crisis magnified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As Russian military aggression in Ukraine reaches the six-month mark, governments and energy industry lobbyists, including Canada’s, are floating the idea that adding LNG capacity could help circumvent Europe’s reliance on Russia’s oil and gas supply. But there’s backlash to the idea, with one demonstrator in Hamburg suggesting that to invest more in LNG would be “climate suicide,” exacerbating already high levels of carbon in the atmosphere.

“In general there’s the idea that Europe needs LNG to stay warm in the winter and this is really a lie,” Toni Lux told CBC News from the site of a protest camp set up this week in northwest Hamburg.

Regardless, as energy prices around the world shoot upward, companies and governments — including Canada — are considering more LNG development as a possible solution.

“I’m not speaking only about Germany,” he said in an interview with CBC News Network’s Power & Politics host Vassy Kapelos. “Italy, the Netherlands, a lot of us in the European Union really are in bitter need of safe democratic energy suppliers. And I think that would be good news for Canada too … because I see Germany and Canada and the European Union as a whole as ideal partners.”

In June, Reuters reported that German government officials, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, are interested in Canada’s export potential for LNG, suggesting Scholz and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met on the sidelines at a G7 summit.

Other Canadian oil and gas suppliers also say they’re eager to expand further into Europe, with GNL Quebec saying it could help “Europe to diversify its energy sources.”

Alberta-based Pieridae Energy has proposed a multibillion-dollar pipeline to ship natural gas from Western Canada to Nova Scotia, where it could then be sent across the Atlantic.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/germany-lng-energy-crisis-1.6549991