{"id":21244,"date":"2020-07-06T19:36:55","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T19:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=21244"},"modified":"2020-07-08T12:59:49","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T12:59:49","slug":"renewable-natural-gas-may-sound-green-but-its-not-an-antidote-for-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/renewable-natural-gas-may-sound-green-but-its-not-an-antidote-for-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Renewable’ natural gas may sound green, but it’s not an antidote for climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emily Grubert<\/a>, Georgia Institute of Technology<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Natural gas is a versatile fossil fuel that accounts for about a third of U.S. energy use<\/a>. Although it produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants than coal or oil, natural gas is a major contributor to climate change, an urgent global problem<\/a>. Reducing emissions from the natural gas system is especially challenging because natural gas is used roughly equally for electricity, heating, and industrial applications<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an emerging argument that maybe there could be a direct substitute for fossil natural gas in the form of renewable natural gas (RNG) \u2013 a renewable fuel designed to be nearly indistinguishable from fossil natural gas. RNG could be made from biomass or from captured carbon dioxide and electricity.<\/p>\n

Based on what\u2019s known about these systems, however, I believe climate benefits might not be as large as advocates claim. This matters because RNG isn\u2019t widely used yet, and decisions about whether to invest in it are being made now, in places like California<\/a>, Oregon<\/a>, Washington<\/a>, Michigan<\/a>, Georgia<\/a> and New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As someone who studies sustainability<\/a>, I research how decisions made now might influence the environment and society in the future. I\u2019m particularly interested in how energy systems contribute to climate change.<\/p>\n

Right now, energy is responsible for most of the pollution worldwide that causes climate change<\/a>. Since energy infrastructure, like power plants and pipelines, lasts a long time<\/a>, it\u2019s important to consider the climate change emissions that society is committing to<\/a> with new investments in these systems. At the moment, renewable natural gas is more a proposal than reality, which makes this a great time to ask: What would investing in RNG mean for climate change?<\/p>\n