'Bridge'? New Study Shatters Natural Gas Talking Point

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/02/14-6



New study reveals that methane emissions from natural gas may be 50 percent higher than EPA estimates

'Bridge'? New Study Shatters Natural Gas Talking Point
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Published on Friday, February 14, 2014 by Common Dreams

The amount of methane leaking from natural gas emissions is far higher than previously estimated, a new study shows, more evidence, as one expert says, that urgent action must be taken to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions.

The findings, based on a review of over 200 previous studies, was published Friday in the journal Science.

Methane is about 30 times more potent of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so while President Obama has championed natural gas as a "bridge fuel" to address global warming, the climate implications of this "leaky" industry deserve scrutiny.

"People who go out and actually measure methane pretty consistently find more emissions than we expect," said lead author of the study Adam Brandt, an assistant professor of energy resources engineering at Stanford University.