It Will Be Too Late Before Natural Gas Provides a Net Climate Benefit - by Joe Romm

The evidence is mounting that natural gas has no net climate benefit in any timescale that matters to humanity.  In the real world, natural gas is not a “bridge” fuel to a carbon-free economy for two key reasons.

First, natural gas is mostly methane, (CH4), a super-potent greenhouse gas, which traps 86 times as much heat as CO2 over a 20-year period.  So even small leaks in the natural gas production and delivery system can have a large climate impact — enough to gut the entire benefit of switching from coal-fired power to gas.

Second, natural gas doesn’t just displace coal — it also displaces carbon-free sources of power such as renewable energy, nuclear power, and energy efficiency.  A recent analysis finds that effect has been large enough recently to wipe out almost the entire climate benefit from increasing natural gas use in the utility sector if the leakage rate is only 1.2 percent (comparable to the EPA’s now discredited new lowball estimate).

It Will Be Too Late Before Natural Gas Provides a Net Climate Benefit - by Joe Romm