We cook with it. Heat with it. Generate electricity with it. And... also save the climate with it? "Natural gas…" …is versatile and cleaner than other fuels. So, it's really become the poster child of politicians... "Proving that we don't have to choose between
our environment and our economy." …and fossil fuel companies. "The cleanest-burning fossil fuel." "The world needs fuels that are
abundant, affordable and lower carbon. Fuels like natural gas." But hang on a minute. Should we really trust the fossil fuel industry, that's responsible for half of
all industrial greenhouse gas emissions since the industrial revolution, to
suddenly do what's best for the planet? Ehm… probably not. So, let's drill down and see how... "environmentally sustainable" ...natural gas really is. Broadly speaking, natural gas is a
mix of different hydrocarbons, mainly methane. It's found in rock formations deep below the earth's surface, where it formed from the remains
of plants and animals over millions of years. We developed techniques to extract it from there, and have done so for decades, and global output has constantly gone up ever since. In the early 2000s, refined processes, like fracking, allowed companies to access previously untapped reserves. Especially in the US, the world's biggest gas producer, this sparked a real boom. And behind this boom, there was one big promise, that natural gas could clean up the power sector. "If you burn gas, natural gas, that is methane, you get half the CO2 emissions of burning coal." This is James Henderson, who leads the gas research program at Oxford University. So, natural gas still emits CO2 when burnt. It's not entirely clean. But it's cleaner than its alternatives, like coal, while generating the same amount of energy. "And so, the first step for many countries is to switch away from dirtier fuels, such as coal, particularly in power generation, and move to gas." You can imagine this like
switching a coal stove for a gas heater, just on a much bigger scale. So, instead of building a new coal
power plant – build a gas power plant. Or retrofit a coal power plant to run on gas, kind of like the industry is showing off here. So, as a lot of relatively clean natural gas became suddenly available, it turned into more than just a fuel. It was now... "The bridge fuel that can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change." The thinking was this: gas could be the bridge between a fossil-fuel powered past,
and a future powered by renewables. Up until today, politicians and
the industry are pushing this narrative. And that's because it worked. "In this sector, in the US,
typically gas has been a boon for the climate." Nakul Nair is a gas market analyst for research firm BloombergNEF. "If you were to plot US carbon emissions from the power sector from 2000 to 2020, the US is probably in the lead, in terms of decarbonizing their power sector, and much of that can be attributed to the use of natural gas." It's no surprise, then, that much of the Western world, like the UK and the EU, have been following similar strategies. And there's great potential for natural gas elsewhere. "If you move further east to a country like China or to India, where coal plays a huge role in the energy economy, they haven't really gone through that coal to gas switch yet. Gas can therefore play a role as a cleaner fuel, if you like as a bridge fuel, to a decarbonized future." But all that is only half the story. Because there's one big problem with gas that those in favor of it don't like to talk about so much. Simply speaking, once gas gets extracted from the ground, it goes into a refinery, where it's processed. From there, it's distributed, usually via pipelines, to power stations, homes or businesses. Or it gets cooled down
and turned into LNG (liquefied natural gas) and then shipped around the world. And at every single one of these steps, methane can escape into the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas that's 80 times more powerful in warming the planet than CO2 over a 20-year period. It's invisible, but with the help of satellites or very expensive special cameras, it's possible to spot it. My colleague Ajit actually went methane hunting with someone who's got access to one of these. You should check out his video right after this. Also, when drilling for oil, gas is a byproduct. Sometimes, it would cost more to collect it than just burn it, a process called flaring that also releases methane. So, if there's a really potent greenhouse gas leaking out of oil and gas infrastructure around the world, surely, we can say how much exactly, right? "Uh, so, no, I can't." "We don't have enough information
to really answer that question." "Nobody really knows." This is Lorne Stockman, who heads the research at Oil Change International, a climate advocacy group. "There are plenty of estimates out there and there's plenty of debate about how much is leaking. The fact is these are all kind of desktop estimates." US authorities assume that
1.4% of total US gas production leaks out. Which is a lot less than the 2.3% that a newer study found. And then an even more recent study measured a staggering 7.4% in the Permian Basin, in Texas. All these figures are just for the US. Elsewhere, they could be totally different. And the problem is, the more methane leaks out, the smaller natural gas's climate benefits really are. "If you don't have an answer to that question, how can we trust you? How do we know that gas is a cleaner fuel? We know it's cleaner when it's burnt. But if you are delivering it, if you've wasted, you know, two or three or four percent of the methane while putting it on a ship and transporting it across the sea and then regasifying it, then, you know, how do we know you haven't just basically undone all the good work you did by displacing coal in the power station?" We reached out to two gas industry associations, the International Gas Union and
the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers, to hear what they had to say about this. The latter claimed that methane emissions are actually a lot lower than the studies state, more like 0.2%. But this figure only accounts for
the first part of the supply chain, so getting the gas out of the ground and only for a certain set of companies. And then, both organizations stressed that the industry is working to reduce methane emissions, pointing to a bunch of initiatives and pledges that various gas producers have started or joined. This shows that the industry itself seems to recognize there is a leakage problem and is doing something to fix it. But while this might help lower the carbon footprint of natural gas, the real problem with it runs even deeper. Climate change is happening. And natural gas, which is by the way also called fossil gas, ultimately is a fossil fuel that will make it worse. The science is clear on this. If we want to avoid catastrophic global warming, we need to be reducing our use of gas, drastically -- not keep expanding it. In countries that still use a lot of coal, particularly in Asia, switching to gas can still save emissions. But on a global scale, we need to start phasing it out.
"That switch from coal to gas can be one of the initial stages towards reducing emissions. But of course, you know, ultimately, as and when that switch has happened,
gas then becomes the problem. It becomes the hydrocarbon that emits CO2 when burnt." In fact, if gas use were to continue to grow as planned, it would be completely out of line with our aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, according to a recent UN report. Plus, every bit of infrastructure we build now will lock in gas use long into the future. "New infrastructure, things like power plants or LNG terminals, have a typical lifetime of 30 years." This is Arvind Ravikumar, who researches how to lower emissions in the energy sector. "So, when you build a plant right now in 2022, its operational lifetime will extend to 2052. And the question is, we do need natural gas now, we are using natural gas now, but will that natural gas and will that infrastructure be useful 30 years from now?" But despite all these warnings,
it seems to be pretty much business as usual. A recent investigation by the Guardian revealed that oil and gas companies
have plans to massively expand their production. Again, we put this to the gas industry. The IOGP said using gas to replace coal is a "no-brainer." And that it's the job of energy companies to meet demand. And the job of governments to change that demand. The IGU said that gas is "critical for an achievable, affordable, sustainable, and secure decarbonization of the global energy system." They also "respectfully disagree" that there is no room for more natural gas. "That's the thing that the gas industry completely overlooks. They're locked into this kind of fantasy that their fossil fuel is the one that is okay and can grow and still has room for growth. And that the others will, you know, carry the burden of getting us to our emissions goals. And there's really not a credible climate scenario in which gas can grow." But that really begs the question: If we need to use less gas, what should we use instead? Well, most importantly, we should tap cleaner energy sources, like wind and solar. Which are, by and large, also cheaper. Of course, the wind doesn't always blow, and the sun doesn't always shine. So, gas power is still needed as a backup. But battery technology is advancing fast and quickly becoming a viable alternative. "Sure, there's going to be a lot of investment needed in order to make a renewable energy system work. But that investment is worthwhile over the long-term. We cannot think short-term. You know, we have to kind of start investing now and expanding that investment
to build the clean energy system we need." Then there's hydrogen, which, if produced with clean energy, can be a lower-carbon alternative to natural gas. Or biogas, which is made by breaking down organic matter. And then, there's carbon capture and storage. So, still using gas, but catching the carbon it releases. The technologies for this are being researched, or already exist, but the jury's still out when or if they'll ever work at scale. However we do it, we need to cross the gas bridge. Sooner, rather than later. Because that's the thing with bridges. They have a beginning and an end. "Now, what do you think? How can we use less gas? And what are the best alternatives? Let us know in the comments and hit subscribe
for more videos like this one every Friday."
