The International Energy Agency (IEA) has infuriated
environmentalists with a report on what it calls the "golden age" of
gas.
The summary says gas use could grow more than 50% by 2035
if local problems with shale extraction can be overcome. Only in the last
paragraph does it say this would be inconsistent with a global temperature rise
of 2C.
And it does not warn the boom could lead to a potentially
devastating 3.5C rise until page 91 of the full report.
Critics complain that most policy makers won't get that
far and say the IEA should not be celebrating any fossil fuel golden age. Tony
Bosworth, of Friends of the Earth, told CRS: "The 'golden age' for gas
risks leading to temperature rises that will be catastrophic. If we're talking
about golden rules, we need one to protect the world's climate. The IEA should
be making that top priority not hyping the prospects for the gas industry. If
we get a boom in gas that'll starve investment from the clean energy sources we
really need."
The report is designed to codify rules for governments in
many countries coping with a welter of applications to drill for coal bed
methane or use fracking to liberate shale gas or other tight (trapped) gas. It
backs many demands from environmentalists, including a stipulation that
fracking firms must use less water; measure and disclose data on water use,
waste water, methane and other emissions; solve air pollution problems; and
minimise leakage of methane. Importantly, it demands that firms should face
full, mandatory disclosure of the chemicals in the fracking process - something
that drillers in the US have resisted under commercial confidentiality. The UK
Environment Agency has already announced that it will require disclosure of
fracking fluids.
The report urges governments worldwide to ensure that the
expected growth in gas is matched by a growth in cash and political support for
regulators.
It says if these can be achieved, the world is ready for
a golden age of gas. A boom in unconventional gas would keep greenhouse gases
1.3% lower than a scenario in which use of unconventional gas were restricted.
The IEA report does not foresee widespread adoption of
carbon capture and storage (CCS) from gas-fired powered generation by 2035. The
IEA's chief economist Fatih Birol said criticism of the report was unfair:
"We are not saying that it will be a golden age for humanity - we are
saying it will be a golden age for gas, but only if problems with fracking are
overcome. "I see communities who seem to me to have legitimate concerns
about water pollution, land use and flaring. These will be a roadblock to shale
gas unless governments can impose best practice in a clear and transparent way.
We see in some countries shale gas is already substituting for coal and that is
welcome as it reduces CO2. But this will only help slow growth in CO2, not
bring us to a desired trajectory. The threat of climate change is right at the
top of our agenda - we just announced a record CO2 level for the world and we
are warning that we are almost ready to shut the door on a trajectory towards a
2C temperature rise."
Today's IEA report forecasts that if unconventional gas
overcomes concerns, the growth in demand for gas would equal to growth from
coal, nuclear and oil combined, keeping gas prices down. It would also outstrip
the growth of renewables and by 2035 gas would overtake coal to become the
second largest source of primary energy after oil.
Dr Birol previously told CRS that the gas boom was likely
to divert investment from renewables. The sudden unpredicted glut of global gas
has changed the energy landscape. A few years ago many governments had been
persuaded that energy security and climate security were inextricably linked.
Now major players like the US are in the process of achieving energy security
more cleanly than they would have from coal, but less cleanly than from
renewables.
In the UK, the Environment Agency chairman Chris Smith
has given a reluctant go-ahead to shale gas, provided that it's fitted with
CCS.
The Committee on Climate Change says the UK should not
generate more than 10% of its electricity from gas by 2030 unless it has CCS.
Learn more about environmental aspects and impacts, and
environmental management with CRS - contact Ros Stacey at advice@crsrisk.com
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