Cornell Hysteric: Fracking is ‘a gangplank to more warming’

Anthony Ingraffea writes in the NYTimes:

As a longtime oil and gas engineer who helped develop shale fracking techniques for the Energy Department, I can assure you that this gas is not “clean.” Because of leaks of methane, the main component of natural gas, the gas extracted from shale deposits is not a “bridge” to a renewable energy future — it’s a gangplank to more warming and away from clean energy investments.

Methane is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, though it doesn’t last nearly as long in the atmosphere. Still, over a 20-year period, one pound of it traps as much heat as at least 72 pounds of carbon dioxide. Its potency declines, but even after a century, it is at least 25 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. When burned, natural gas emits half the carbon dioxide of coal, but methane leakage eviscerates this advantage because of its heat-trapping power.

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One thought on “Cornell Hysteric: Fracking is ‘a gangplank to more warming’”

  1. I’m sure the good professor and his colleagues have stopped using any electricity generated from dirty coal and fracked gas.

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