Natural gas can rival coal's climate-warming potential when leaks are counted

The natural gas production and supply system leaks the powerful greenhouse gas methane during drilling, fracking, processing and transport. Meredith Miotke for NPR hide caption

toggle caption Meredith Miotke for NPR

The natural gas production and supply system leaks the powerful greenhouse gas methane during drilling, fracking, processing and transport.

Meredith Miotke for NPR

Natural gas has long been considered a more climate-friendly alternative to coal, as gas-fired power plants generally release less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than their coal-fired counterparts. But a new study finds that when the full impact of the industry is taken into account, natural gas could contribute as much as coal to climate change.

Natural gas is primarily composed of , a potent greenhouse gas. A new peer-reviewed analysis in the journal finds that when even small amounts of methane escape from natural gas wells, production facilities and pipelines, it can drive up the industry's emissions to equal the effects of coal.

). Researchers also took into account the fact that coal production leaks methane.

The findings are a challenge to the natural gas industry, which bills itself as part of the solution to addressing climate change. Carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in the U.S. have since 2005, largely because of the shift from coal to gas.

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"The U.S. natural gas and oil industry is leading the world in advancing innovative technology to better detect and reduce methane emissions, and U.S. methane emissions intensity are amongst the lowest of any major-producing nation," wrote Dustin Meyer of the American Petroleum Institute, in a statement.

Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, though it doesn't stay in the atmosphere as long. Scientists are clear that the world needs to reduce both to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

The API didn't offer an assessment of this latest research. But to achieve and maintain a climate edge over coal, the natural gas industry may have to nearly eliminate methane leaks. That's difficult, and it comes as critics are working to find more leaks regulators and the industry may be missing.

Environmental groups say the Environmental Protection Agency currently undercounts methane emissions. Several groups have started looking for leaks themselves, using special cameras, aerial surveys, and increasingly powerful satellites. The conservation and advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund plans to launch what will be "the most advanced methane-tracking satellite in space" early next year.