Abstract
Natural gas is racing neck and neck with coal to be the top fuel for generating electricity in the U.S. thanks to increased use of techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing, that extract the gas from unconventional sources. Since burning natural gas emits half as much carbon dioxide as does burning coal, the natural gas boom has helped lower per capita carbon emissions in the U.S. over the past decade. However, a major downside of natural gas is that it leaks. Millions of tons every year—roughly 9 million tons in the U.S. alone—spill into the atmosphere during extraction, storage, and transport. Because natural gas comprises 95% methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 86 times as much heat as does carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, leaking just 2–3% of the gas that’s produced worldwide can wipe out its environmental benefits over coal. “The short-term climate punch of waste methane is equivalent
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