New conflicts between politicians and environmentalists are looming over the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), especially within the green camp.

The traffic light coalition would like to build floating and then fixed terminals for landing, regasification and forwarding of the gas as soon as possible in order to become less dependent on Russian pipelines.

Behind this is the fear that Moscow's state-owned companies could impose delivery stops with serious effects on the supply of private households, on the electricity supply and on the economy.

At the same time, Berlin wants to prepare for a possible European gas embargo against the Kremlin because of the attack on Ukraine.

Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

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In order to literally step on the gas with the LNG expansion, after the Bundestag on Friday, the Bundesrat also passed the LNG Acceleration Act prepared by Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens), which can therefore come into force in June.

The first mobile terminal in Wilhelmshaven is scheduled to go online in December.

The law shortens the public hearing periods to a minimum, provides for only one court of appeal - the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig - and allows the suspension of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) at least for the mobile terminals.

The law justifies the restrictions in the overriding public interest and national security.

All terminals must be converted to hydrogen by 2043 at the latest.

Not only lawyers have expressed doubts, the amendment also overshoots the mark for nature conservation associations.

The WWF, Nabu and the Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz BUND criticize that the twelve projects mentioned in the law far exceed the amounts to substitute Russian imports.

They want to appeal against the project in Wilhelmshaven.

BUND calls terminal costs “madness”

The organizations feel confirmed by a new calculation by the German Environmental Aid.

According to this, the seven most likely LNG projects will emit around 2.1 gigatonnes of CO2 by the end of their term, three quarters of the “residual budget” that Germany is allowed to emit if it wants to meet its climate protection goals.

In vain did environmental aid call on the Federal Council to stop the law.

It was a “horror for the climate”.

In addition to Wilhelmshaven, LNG terminals could also be built in Brunsbüttel and Hamburg.

BUND sharply criticized the latter on Friday.

First the actual gas requirement has to be determined, the costs of 200,000 euros per day are "madness".

Support for the new law came from business, for example from the Energy Association BDEW and the Federal Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses.

BDEW boss Kerstin Andreae said: “The goal is to become independent of gas imports from Russia as quickly as possible.

LNG can make an important contribution to this, as it enables natural gas to be obtained from countries with which there are no pipeline connections.” Own terminals in Germany are “absolutely necessary” in order to almost completely cover Russian gas supplies from other sources by 2024 to be able to

Against the arguments of the environmental organizations, which actually belong to the Green camp, Habeck said: “We are in an absolute crisis situation.

And it's my job now to make sure that if the worst comes to the worst - and that would mean: Putin turns off the gas tap - we don't have to run through the winter completely naked." aspects, but also at the really pressing national emergency that would happen if we didn't get gas from Russia."