Cornell Study Shows Shale Gas Has Much Larger Greenhouse Gas Emissions Than Coal and Oil

[Nathanael]

A forthcoming study from Cornell University may dash the growing reputation natural gas has acquired as the "clean" burning fossil fuel.

According to research conducted by Robert Howarth, Renee Santoro, and Anthony Ingraffea, greenhouse gas emissions produced by natural gas derived from unconventional sources, primarily hydraulic fracturing, are significantly higher than that of conventional gas, coal, and oil.

Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is a significant component of natural gas. The authors estimate that between 30% and 200% more methane is emitted from shale gas produced from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, wells. Hydraulic fracturing requires injecting pressurized water into rock formations to crack them open and harvest the gas encased within them. The majority of the methane escapes in the water as it flows back out, and then later, when the rock is further drilled open to extract the gas reserves.

Link: http://www.energyboom.com/emerging/cornell-study-shows-shale-gas-has-much-larger-greenhouse-gas-emissions-coal-and-oil

[kristopher]

1. Presuming it's accurate, this argues strongly for heavier focus on a full renewable portfolio

The drive for NG is largely based on the idea that it is easy to swap from coal/nuclear to natgas. That drives expansion of demand.
The more effective strategy is to press even harder for wind, geothermal, solar, and wave/current/tidal deployment. That relegates natural gas to a diminishing roll of shaping load around the profile of the renewable mix.

There are enough dispatchable alternatives in the renewable grab-bag to replace all fossil and nuclear.

We also need a far better accounting of the full life-cycle emissions of not only natural gas, but nuclear; and we need it yesterday. This isn't the time for screwing around with bad data.

http://www.nd.edu/~kshrader/pubs/final-mod-energy-review-2009-SF_revised2.pdf

http://www.nd.edu/~kshrader/pubs/final-see-2009-data-trimming-climate-nuclear-fulltext.pdf