The preceding article — ☠ Fossil methane gas ☠ — followed my reading of Reality Check: Natural Gas’s True Climate Risk, an article published by the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute, an organization that aims to improve energy practices. 

For decades, natural gas has been touted as a safer climate alternative to fossil fuels such as coal. Even the word “natural” suggests its alignment with sustainability goals — a misnomer that has, until recently, largely flown under the radar of public scrutiny. But factoring in methane releases from unintentional leaks and intentional venting throughout the natural gas supply chain quickly calls those climate-safe credentials into question.

According to RMI, methane leakage as low as 0.2 percent puts gas’s climate impact on par with coal:

While CO₂ has dominated mainstream conversations about climate change and emissions reduction strategies, tackling methane can deliver bigger reductions, at lower costs, sooner. Compared to the more complex global strategies to slash CO₂ emissions for a safer climate future, cutting methane is low-hanging fruit. To put that opportunity in perspective, minimizing US methane leakage would be equivalent to taking all US cars off the road for a year...

Gas leakage has been documented widely by the media over the past couple of years. Ongoing aerial surveys and a growing constellation of satellites are finding that methane leaks are far more frequent and intense than previously assumed. Massive methane plumes make it clear that production equipment alone can persistently leak beyond that 0.2 percent threshold. And the 0.2 percent leakage rate considered by industry and EPA is not low enough. Tighter methane detection and reporting will be imperative to protect the climate...

Strategic interventions to cut methane emissions in the natural gas supply chain are relatively simple and cost-effective compared to the complexity and expense of decarbonizing the global economy. Prohibiting venting and routine flaring and incorporating routine equipment fixes and upgrades into maintenance plans can significantly cut methane emissions from production sites.