As Massachusetts begins to measure progress on net-zero emissions, the state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board approved a new liquefied natural gas facility in Charlton on Friday.

The board determined in its final decision that “there is a need for additional natural gas facilities … to meet reliability, economic efficiency and environmental objectives” in the state.

Alternatives to building an LNG facility in the area, such as expanding interstate natural gas pipelines, trucking gas from other facilities or using oil and propane to heat homes, are more harmful to the environment, said Andre Gibeau, attorney with the EFSB. (See Mass. Considers Approval of LNG Facility in Environmental Justice Community.)

“Even with the mandatory goal of achieving a net-zero carbon profile in 2050, the commonwealth’s 2050 climate roadmap acknowledges that natural gas will continue to have a role,” Gibeau said at the combined EFSB and Department of Public Utilities hearing on the LNG facility.

Developed by the Northeast Energy Center, the facility will provide 168,500 gallons/day of natural gas liquefaction capacity and 850,000 gallons of storage capacity for National Grid (NYSE: NGG).

The facility has double the liquefaction and storage capacity of that needed to fulfill firm commitments to National Grid, and Northeast Energy “intends to market the facility’s remaining production and storage capacity,” Gibeau said.

Northeast Energy is also interested in selling the LNG to heavy transportation markets, such as trucking or ocean vessels if technology allows, to displace the use of oil.

The Mystic Generating Station, the power station with the highest natural gas capacity in the state, is slated to retire in 2024, so the new facility in Charlton has “significant importance in the market as we see it today,” Gibeau said.