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Shale Gas Greenhouse Gas Footprint Review

Technical Review

1 March 2013

Storage

Steve Goldthorpe Energy Analyst Ltd

Citation: IEAGHG, "Shale Gas Greenhouse Gas Footprint Review", 2013-TR1, March 2013.

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Publication Overview

This analytical review was originally prepared as a discussion note for the executive committee of the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D programme in response to concern resulting from publication in the USA of an academic paper claiming that methane emissions arising from the production of shale gas could be sufficient to make unconventional natural gas from that source more greenhouse intensive than coal. Such a claim runs counter to the conventional wisdom that converting an application from coal to natural gas invariably results in a reduction in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission consequences of the application, particularly so for power generation

Publication Summary

The 1:2 GHG advantage of gas over coal for base load power generation is partly offset when precombustion GHG emissions are taken into account.  When the gas is sourced from shale with fracking, that GHG advantage of gas over coal would be reduced to 1:1.77.

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