http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/155101-report-gas-from-fracking-worse-than-coal-on-climate"Cornell University professors will soon publish research that concludes natural gas produced with a drilling method called “hydraulic fracturing” contributes to global warming as much as coal, or even more.
The conclusion is explosive because natural gas enjoys broad political support – including White House backing – due to its domestic abundance and lower carbon dioxide emissions when burned than other fossil fuels.
Cornell Prof. Robert Howarth, however, argues that development of gas from shale rock formations produced through hydraulic fracturing – dubbed “fracking” – brings far more methane emissions than conventional gas production."
If this is true, it has all sorts of horrible consequences. For one, it means the transition to more renewables that are typically paired with natural gas back-up plants will have less impact on slowing global warming than previously thought. It also shoots to hell the idea that we can replace our automotive fleet or baseload electrical infrastructure with natural gas as a "cleaner" energy source than petroleum or coal. Also, it means that the already high CO2 emissions from oil extracted from tar sands with natural gas boilers would have even HIGHER CO2 emissions if developed with fracked natural gas.
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