• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta June 29, 2022
London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty June 29, 2022
G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance June 29, 2022
Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ for Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use June 26, 2022
BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December June 19, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Demand & Distribution Batteries / Storage

Experience With Climate-‘Friendly’ Natural Gas Shows Short Bridge to Nowhere

January 31, 2018
Reading time: 2 minutes

anita_starzycka / Pixabay

anita_starzycka / Pixabay

 

Natural gas’s oft-touted “bridge” away from dirtier fossil fuels leads nowhere—and is fast losing its technical and economic foundations to boot, the Guardian reports. The fuel’s adoption may even delay, rather than hastening, the transition to low-carbon prosperity.  

In the United States, the paper observes, electricity generation from coal has plummeted 44% in the last decade. “Of the 866 terawatt-hours of lost coal power production, 46% was picked up by natural gas, 43% by increased efficiency, and 23% by renewables.”

The capacity that has shifted from coal to gas, research indicates, hasn’t done much for the climate. A paper published in the journal Research Letters in 2014 concluded “that increased natural gas use for electricity will not substantially reduce U.S. GHG emissions, and by delaying deployment of renewable energy technologies, may actually exacerbate the climate change problem in the long term.”

As the volumes of methane that escape during the production and distribution of natural gas become clearer, other research “suggests natural gas isn’t significantly better than coal in terms of global warming effects.” (Some reports have suggested it may actually be worse.)

While the climate case for natural gas has been carried away on a cloud of methane, the economic argument for building gas-fired electrical generation has been eroded by the falling cost of clean energy.

“Some natural gas plants are still essential for ensuring local grid reliability,” the Guardian concedes, “but in many cases, clean energy resources like a combination of solar and storage can meet reliability needs. Renewables also don’t face the uncertainty associated with fluctuating natural gas prices.”

The Guardian cites northern California, where the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently opted to call for a mix of tenders for renewable generation, efficiency gains, and conservation, rather than paying the cost of maintaining a gas plant on standby to meet peak electricity demand.

The dawning recognition that natural gas can’t meet either of its key promises is fuelling movements in several U.S. states “for utilities to scrap plans for new natural gas plants, and instead consider cleaner and potentially cheaper renewable alternatives,” the Guardian writes.



in Batteries / Storage, Community Climate Finance, Ending Emissions, General Renewables, International, Methane, Oil & Gas, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Keith Hirsche
Jobs & Training

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta

July 3, 2022
430
London Eye UK England
Cities & Communities

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 29, 2022
149
Number 10/flickr
International Agencies & Studies

G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance

June 29, 2022
155

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Geocryologist/wikimedia commons

Lack of Consent Drives Indigenous Opposition to Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mining Plan

May 17, 2022
460
François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

June 29, 2022
243
AJEL / Pixabay

Windfall Tax on Food, Fossil, Pharma Giants Would Raise $490B to Solve ‘Catastrophic’ Food Crisis: Oxfam

June 29, 2022
65
Province of B.C./flickr

Comox Joins Municipalities Seeking Ban on New Gas Stations

June 29, 2022
89
London Eye UK England

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 29, 2022
149
Keith Hirsche

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta

June 29, 2022
430

Recent Posts

Number 10/flickr

G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance

June 29, 2022
155
futureatlas.com/flickr

Ottawa Demands Deeper Fuel Emissions Cuts, Offers Fossils a Double-Dip on Tax Breaks

June 29, 2022
80
Danielle Scott/flickr

Advocate Urges Ottawa to Intervene Before Ontario Builds Highway 413

June 29, 2022
138
/Piqsels

Refocus Agriculture Spending to Cut Emissions, Boost Productivity, OECD Urges Governments

July 2, 2022
34
Jimmy Emerson, DVM/flickr

Public Vigilance Key to Protecting Greenbelts for Climate Resilience, Report Finds

June 29, 2022
41
Miguel V/Wikimedia Commons

Forests Fall Short of Full Carbon Storage Potential, Study Finds

June 29, 2022
73
Next Post
Pexels

A Credible Carbon Price Tomorrow Can Influence Decisions Today

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}