Clean natural gas? Er – hang on a minute

A study by Stanford University called Methane Leakage from North American Natural Gas Systems, published in the Feb. 14 issue of the journal Science, has shown that methane leakage is much higher than official estimates have admitted.

Does this matter? Well, yes. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas – about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Adam Brandt, the lead author of the new analysis, is an assistant professor of energy resources engineering at Stanford University, and his finding is unarguable. ‘Atmospheric tests covering the entire country indicate emissions around 50 percent more than EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) estimates,’ he states. ‘And that’s a moderate estimate.’

Perhaps surprisingly, the analysis finds that powering trucks and buses with natural gas instead of diesel fuel probably makes the globe warmer. For natural gas to beat diesel, the gas industry would have to be less leaky than the EPA’s current estimate, which the new analysis finds quite improbable. ‘Although running trucks and buses natural gas may help local air quality and reduce oil imports … it is not likely to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.’

Previous estimates of mission rates were based on voluntary reports from operators of wells and processing plants, and these were significantly few. One EPA study asked 30 gas companies to cooperate, but only six did so, or even allowed the EPA on the site. Hardly surprising, then, that the figures were wrong. Bang goes another myth.