Appalachia First

A Truly Appalachia-First Vision

While many debate the relative climate benefit or harm of U.S. LNG exports, data show that local/regional leveraging of our Appalachian-based inherent energy advantages along with local manufacturing not only benefit the region, but also the planet, by significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

1. LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINT DUE TO A MICRO SUPPLY CHAIN

   Appalachian natural gas enjoys several key advantages: ultra-low carbon intensity, close proximity to industrial demand and markets (50% of the U.S. population within a day’s drive of the region), extensive in-place infrastructure (existing highway, pipeline, river, and rail transportation networks), and a skilled labor workforce pool. Cumulatively, such benefits logically lead to policy that focuses first on displacing imported/foreign energy and goods with Appalachian-fueled regional manufacturing. Importing energy or products from overseas, particularly from China, makes no environmental, industrial, or logical sense. China procures most of its energy for manufacturing from the Middle East (oil) and from other distant regions (coal). That produces an energy supply chain of over 10,000 kilometers. Chinese-manufactured products must then be shipped to the U.S. and transported by rail or truck to reach consumers, which adds another 15,000 to 20,000 kilometers of supply chain. The cumulative carbon footprint of such a supply chain is staggering.

2. LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINT DUE TO ULTRA-LOW CARBON INTENSITY NATURAL GAS

   Since launching ZeroHP CNG and Clean mLNG in 2024, CNX has continued advancing its proprietary pad-level natural gas technologies designed to produce compressed natural gas and micro-scale LNG closer to the point of supply. By utilizing geobaric energy — the high natural gas pressures found deep in shale formations — CNX’s ZeroHP CNG technology reduces or eliminates the need for conventional mechanical compression, lowering cost, maintenance requirements, environmental footprint, and trailer fill time. Together with Clean mLNG, CNX’s pad-level platform is intended to expand access to lower-cost, lower-emissions fuel solutions for transportation, industrial, power, and other off-pipeline applications.

   LNG imported to the U.S. is almost exclusively delivered to New England. Foreign LNG imports are necessary for New England due to limited pipeline interconnections and wrong-headed radical environmental policies that prohibit new pipeline infrastructure being built to connect with nearby Appalachian natural gas-producing regions. New England’s energy insecurity (and reliance on foreign LNG) has negative climate consequences. Yet if CNX’s innovative LNG technology was applied to deliver energy to New England and to displace these LNG foreign imports, it would have reduced global emissions by 78.8 million metric tonnes CO₂e over the past decade.¹

   Similarly for U.S. LNG exports, according to a recent study published by Dr. Robert W. Howarth, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, The Greenhouse Gas Footprint of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Exported from the United States, revised March 24, 2024, the greenhouse gas footprint of LNG is always larger than for natural gas consumed domestically, because of the large amount of energy needed, particularly to liquefy and transport the LNG. Greenhouse gas emissions from LNG are also larger than those from domestically produced coal, ranging from 44% to more than 2-fold greater for the average cruise distance of an LNG tanker. ₂e over the past decade.¹

3. LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINT DUE TO BETTER ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS

   The environmental standards for energy production and manufacturing in the United States are the highest in the world. When we import goods from China rather than making them domestically, the manufacturing is performed under Chinese environmental standards, and coal or imported oil are the primary fuels used to power the Chinese factories and grid.

   Emissions from electricity in the U.S. used in manufacturing are 26% lower than emissions from electricity used in manufacturing in China. The U.S. produces less than half the CO emissions of China.²

4. MORE DOMESTIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

   Utilizing our regional energy resources locally and onshoring manufacturing will increase the domestic tax base, create family-sustaining jobs, and drive sustainable GDP growth. Consider the astounding impact of only one facet of Appalachia’s natural gas economy: the AI revolution. Appalachia is strategically positioned to fuel the AI revolution leveraging our ultra-low carbon intensity natural gas and fugitive RMG to create reliable, sustainable power solutions. Doing so can catalyze $75 billion in economic output, $2 billion in tax revenues, all while generating over 300,000 construction jobs and 50,000 permanent jobs over the next 10 years.³

5. LOWER COST AT HIGHER RELIABILITY

   Natural gas provides reliable, dispatchable electricity and remains essential to maintaining grid stability as power demand grows. While wind and solar can look competitive on a standalone levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) basis, recent EIA⁵ and Lazard⁶ analyses indicate that system reliability, capacity contribution, and firming costs (the added cost of backup capacity needed to keep power reliable when wind or solar output falls) become increasingly important as renewable penetration rises.

   A 2025 analysis by J.P. Morgan⁷, using modeled utility-scale solar-plus-storage configurations in Las Vegas, underscores that system-level costs can diverge materially from headline LCOE comparisons when resources must meet load reliably over time. Natural gas is essential to maintaining affordable, reliable power by providing firm, dispatchable generation when intermittent resources cannot meet demand.

   Additionally, CNX’s innovative CNG technology represents a paradigm shift in compressed natural gas production that drastically reduces capital and operating costs. CNG can provide the energy equivalent to diesel at less than half the current price while reducing well-to-wheel carbon emissions by 35%⁸ and tailpipe SOx and NOx by approximately 40% and 90%⁹, respectively. CNX’s innovative CNG technology also provides a 50%⁸ reduction in well-to-pump carbon intensity compared to conventional CNG.