While methane pollution caused by natural gas production in Pennsylvania is underestimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, natural gas still has half the carbon footprint of underground coal mining, according to an international team of researchers.
While methane pollution caused by natural gas production in Pennsylvania is underestimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, natural gas still has half the carbon footprint of underground coal mining, according to an international team of researchers.
"At the rates we found for methane, natural gas in Pennsylvania is still much, much cleaner than coal," said Zachary Barkley, research associate in meteorology, Penn State. "Obviously, renewable energy would be better, but there is no debate, switching to natural gas is worth it in the short run."
The researchers looked at methane in the atmosphere by flying transects over the southwestern portion of Pennsylvania and adjacent portions of West Virginia and Ohio. Researchers from the University of Maryland collected data from the flights.
"The southwestern part of the state has huge amounts of natural gas and coal and we were getting methane from there during a previous project in northeastern Pennsylvania," said Barkley.
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Image: Marcellus Shale drillsite in Central Pennsylvania. Source: Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR), Penn State
