Many studies have shown that electric power plants fueled with natural gas emit far less greenhouse gas (GHG) than coal-fired plants. Reduction estimates tend to be quite consistent, ranging from 37% to 54%, depending on the age and efficiency of the plants being compared. So natural gas clearly does reduce power plant GHG emissions.
What's less clear is how much GHG is emitted on the way to power plants during natural gas development, production, transportation and storage. With differing methods and many more measurement points, estimates of pre-plant natural gas leakage rates vary widely, from 0.7%-2.6%.
The main component of natural gas is a compound called methane. Compared to carbon dioxide, methane has more warming potential but leaves the atmosphere much sooner. The higher the methane leakage rate, the lower the GHG advantage natural gas has for power generation.
Natural gas leakage is a perfect example of a sustainable development challenge: it increases greenhouse gas emissions, causes people concern and costs the company lost revenue. We don't want any of those things to happen. When properly contained, natural gas is a useful and valuable product. That's why small releases of natural gas are known as 'fugitive emissions' because we want to capture them rather than let them escape. It's not good for the environment. It's money disappearing into thin air. And it's something we take seriously.
Many studies have shown that electric power plants fueled with natural gas emit far less greenhouse gas (GHG) than coal-fired plants. Reduction estimates tend to be quite consistent, ranging from 37% to 54%, depending on the age and efficiency of the plants being compared. So natural gas clearly does reduce power plant GHG emissions.What's less clear is how much GHG is emitted on the way to power plants during natural gas development, production, transportation and storage. With differing methods and many more measurement points, estimates of pre-plant natural gas leakage rates vary widely, from 0.7%-2.6%.The main component of natural gas is a compound called methane. Compared to carbon dioxide, methane has more warming potential but leaves the atmosphere much sooner. The higher the methane leakage rate, the lower the GHG advantage natural gas has for power generation.Natural gas leakage is a perfect example of a sustainable development challenge: it increases greenhouse gas emissions, causes people concern and costs the company lost revenue. We don't want any of those things to happen. When properly contained, natural gas is a useful and valuable product. That's why small releases of natural gas are known as 'fugitive emissions' because we want to capture them rather than let them escape. It's not good for the environment. It's money disappearing into thin air. And it's something we take seriously.
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