The good news about natural gas is that when it is burnt it creates between 40 and 50 per cent less carbon dioxide than coal would to create the same amount of energy.
This is why it has been embraced by some climate activists and governments as a useful energy source to replace coal and oil while renewable energy technologies catch up with global energy demand.
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| Gas appears to be no cleaner an energy source than coal, new research suggests. Credit: Glenn Hunt |
Before it is burnt natural gas is mostly made up of methane, and methane is estimated to be about 28 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.
Over a 20-year period - about the time scientists believe we have to try to prevent the worst impacts of global warming - it is up to 80 times more potent at warming the planet than carbon dioxide.
The United States’ Environmental Protection Agency estimates that for every cubic metre of methane extracted by the US oil and gas industry, 1.4 per cent escapes into the atmosphere as so-called fugitive emissions.
But more recent research suggests this estimate is drastically low, and that, in fact, the industry in the US is leaking 13 million metric tonnes of methane a year, or 2.3 per cent.
It is not yet clear how much fugitive methane is released by the Australian gas industry, but new technologies now allow scientists to accurately measure it and the data is expected to be published in the coming months.
The US Environmental Defence Fund estimated that, in America, if just 3 per cent of methane escapes, gas is no cleaner an energy source than coal.
Either way, as gas begins to displace coal - or in Japan, nuclear power - as an energy source, its significance as a warming agent via both the carbon dioxide it produces when burnt and via fugitive methane emissions is growing rapidly.
According to research published last month by the CSIRO's Global Carbon Project, at the end of 2019, methane concentration in the atmosphere reached 1,875 parts per billion – more than 2½ times higher than pre-industrial levels. This was a level consistent with the climate warming by a catastrophic 3-4 degrees Celsius by 2100.
Between 2008 and 2017, 60 per cent of methane emissions were man-made, created by agriculture and waste, followed by oil and gas production and then the burning of biofuels.
The most recent research suggests that agriculture and the use of fossil fuels - mainly gas - are equal contributors to the rise of methane in the atmosphere over the past decade, says Dr Pep Canadell, a senior scientist with the CSIRO and director of the Global Carbon Project.
Links
- (AU) Australia's Chief Scientist Is Wrong On Gas, Say Leading Experts
- (AU) Chief Scientist Alan Finkel Fires Back On Gas Criticism From Colleagues
- (AU) Gas Is Not Transition Energy We Were Promised, New Research Suggests
- (AU) 4 Reasons Why A Gas-Led Economic Recovery Is A Terrible, Naïve Idea
- Narrabri Gas Project should be blocked, says ex-chief scientist
- A contentious NSW gas project is weeks away from approval. Here are 3 reasons it should be rejected
- 4 reasons why a gas-led economic recovery is a terrible, naïve idea
- Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis Australia: Gas is not a transition fuel, Prime Minister
- A review of current and future methane emissions from Australian unconventional oil and gas production
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Understanding Global Warming Potentials
- Renewables 2019 - Market analysis and forecast from 2019 to 2024
- Narrabri Gas Project
- Australia has plenty of gas, but our bills are ridiculous. The market is broken
- Victoria quietly lifted its gas exploration pause but banned fracking for good. It’s bad news for the climate
- Why it doesn't make economic sense to ignore climate change in our recovery from the pandemic
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