Can we beat climate change with natural gas? No.

From PV Magazine.

A report by Germany’s Energy Watch Group  thinktank has said we would be better off sticking to coal and oil than switching to gas because emissions of methane, the most potent greenhouse gas, caused by gas extraction render any related carbon savings irrelevant.

[In a startling conclusion, Energy Watch Group concludes that] sticking with coal and oil-fired power and heat would give the world a better chance of hitting climate change mitigation targets than switching to natural gas, thanks to the devastating greenhouse gas effect of methane leakage.

The Natural gas makes no contribution to climate protection study published on Monday claims switching coal power and oil-fired heating to natural gas raises the greenhouse effect of the power and heating supply chain 40% because of methane emissions during natural gas production.

Rubbishing the claims of natural gas to play a part in the future energy mix because of its low CO2 emissions, the report recommends existing gas infrastructure be used solely for genuinely climate-friendly options such as biogas and green hydrogen generated by renewables-powered electrolysis – power-to-gas

And the IEA needs to clean up its act too, according to Energy Watch leading scientist and co-author of the report Thure Traber. “The IEA, which many governments regard as a reference for their energy policy decisions, deceives us with outdated figures and problematic assumptions about the actual climate impact of natural gas – with devastating consequences for our climate and the economy,” said Traber. “The economic risks of natural gas are significant: if the climate targets are to be achieved on national and international levels then it is simply impossible for investments in natural gas to pay for themselves. What will remain are stranded investments in the billions [of dollars].”

The critical point is this: over a 20 year period, methane is 86 times as potent a greenhouse gas as CO₂.  So any leaks greater than about 1% risk making gas a worse choice than coal or oil.  Even without leaks, burning methane still produces half the CO₂ of burning coal.  We need to cut emissions to zero.  Methane is also produced from some oil and coal mining, too.  The best choice for de-carbonisation of electricity generation remains using wind and solar with storage, including power-to-gas. (In the chart below, enteric fermentation refers to cattle farts and burps.  Our eating habits are also causing rising temperatures.)