The Worldwatch Institute just issued this statement:

Washington, DC – New analysis on the amount of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, released from natural gas production and transport reinforces Worldwatch’s long-stated positions that the natural gas industry must be more open to effective regulation and must more effectively minimize the risk of water contamination, local environmental degradation, and air pollution, including methane leakage, associated with industry activities. The analysis does not, however, change our essential calculus that natural gas can facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy, and continues to enjoy significant advantages over coal as an energy source.
 
For more than a year, the Worldwatch Institute has maintained a rigorous and ongoing program – our Natural Gas and Sustainable Energy Initiative – that explores the role of natural gas in a low-carbon economy. With media attention focused on the amount of methane leakage connected to energy produced from natural gas, we wish to reiterate some key findings from our research:
 
Natural gas enjoys a broad set of advantages over coal in terms of its ability to partner with renewables in the transition to a low-carbon future, from its dramatically improved ability to scale up and down to meet the needs of an efficient, variable and flexible electric grid, to lower carbon footprint at the point of production.

While Worldwatch has identified greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the form of methane leakage, especially during natural gas production, as a serious concern, our analysis indicates that the problem can largely be mitigated through a combination of more effective regulation and better practices from the natural gas industry itself, both of which are essential if natural gas is to earn broad support as an alternative to aging coal plants.

There remains a need for better data on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the life cycles of both natural gas and coal. The Worldwatch Institute is currently working on a joint study to develop a rigorous and transparent life-cycle assessment of electricity generated from both natural gas and coal, using what we believe to be the best currently available data.

Recent data from the EPA suggest that it is appropriate to revise previous estimates of methane emissions upwards. Nevertheless, our preliminary analysis suggests that the best new estimates of greenhouse gases emitted during the full life-cycle of natural gas and coal do not undercut the environmental advantages of natural gas over coal. We are reserving final judgment until the conclusion of our own study.

Prof. David Keith, a well-respected climate-change scientist from the University of Calgary, believes it’s possible to design a machine that can snatch carbon dioxide out of ambient air. In fact, he knows it can be done — he has built the machine to do it. Now the challenge is to scale it up and make it more economical.

Keith and a team at the university announced this past week what he admits comes across as “absurd,” but after years of study and experimentation his efforts are paying off. The team has demonstrated the capture of CO2 directly from the air using less than 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity per ton of carbon dioxide. It means the electricity from a coal-fired plant could be used to capture 10 times as much CO2 as the power plant itself emitted. (more…)