Is Natural Gas a Clean Energy Source?

Similar to oil and coal, natural gas is a fossil fuel formed from the remains of plants and animals. Proponents of natural gas are portraying it as a cleaner alternative to coal and oil. A report published in April 2024 states that natural gas plays an important role in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

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But academics and lawmakers are slamming this report, claiming that this depiction of natural gas as a green and climate-friendly fuel is misleading.

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What is natural gas

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Back in the early 19th century, the residents of Fredonia, New York, stumbled upon a curious phenomenon. They noticed that the gas bubbling up in a local creek would ignite when lit. Seizing this opportunity, a local businessman started capturing this gas in 1821 and sold it as a fuel source to the shops in Fredonia.

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This new fuel source, nicknamed “nature's gas”, was not only cheaper to transport than the whale oil and coal gas used at the time, but it also appeared to be a cleaner alternative.

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This “nature’s gas” eventually became natural gas and we started to view it as healthy, clean, and environmentally friendly.

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Is natural gas good for the environment?

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A new and efficient natural gas power plant emits around 50% less carbon dioxide (CO₂) during combustion when compared with a typical coal-based power plant.

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Proponents of natural gas have taken this argument to claim that it is cleaner as compared to oil and coal as it generates less carbon dioxide when burned.

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While that is true, this provides an incomplete picture. CO₂ isn’t the only harmful emission generated by natural gas development.

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The extraction of natural gas results in the emission of methane, the main constituent of natural gas which is around 120 times more powerful than CO₂ at trapping heat and 80 times more effective at warming the planet than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.

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Environmental impacts of natural gas extraction

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We can't ignore the environmental problems of natural gas extraction.

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Fracking, the process used to extract natural gas, involves drilling deep into the earth and injecting liquid into subterranean rock at very high pressure.

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The boreholes that carry the gas back up to the surface travel straight through the water-bearing rocks, called aquifers, where many of us get our water.

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The injected fracking fluid often contains dangerous chemicals that no one would want to drink – and if the borehole is not properly cased, those chemicals can escape into groundwater.

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So, natural gas is still a fossil fuel, and simply replacing oil and coal with it won’t help us reach our climate goals.

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We need to move to cleaner sources such as wind and solar that don’t harm our health and destroy our planet.