Is Natural Gas Better Than Coal for Climate Change?

Many of us have thought that natural gas could serve as a bridge between coal and "clean" energy (solar and wind) because combustion of natural gas produces far less CO2 than combustion of coal. Therefore, from a climate change perspective, natural gas was better than coal.

There are studies now that shake that hope. One is a study by R. W. Howarth, et. al., of Cornell that suggests that methane (primary component of natural gas) escapes from wells during the fracking process, and that this methane, a more powerful green house gas than CO2, makes natural gas from fracking as much of a climate change problem as coal. However, that is refuted by a study by Mohan Jiang, et. al., of Carnegie Mellon University.

A soon to be published study, by Tom Wigley of the National Center on Atmospheric Research, reports that other pollutants from the combustion of coal has a cooling effect that may negate any advantage of natural gas. This study is to be published in Climate Change Letters next month.

It is beginning to appear that natural gas, particularly gas produced by fracking, is not an appropriate bridge between coal and renewable energy, as far as climate change is concerned. Of course, there are many problems with coal other than the amount of CO2 produced, High among these are the pollution and the open pit and mountain top removal mining techniques. Also, there are many problems with fracking other than leaking natural gas, such as the danger of ground water contamination and the noise, traffic, and light associated with the drilling operations.