Gas is mostly methane > emits C02 and H20, while coal is more carbon based > emits pure CO2 (although I may be wrong as chemistry is not my strong point!) But I think the 'half as much' stat appears to be specific to the US: https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=74&t=11
So good. So powerful. So needed to calling this out. May I ask the reference for "When burned, gas releases about half as much carbon dioxide as coal, but methane traps about 85 times more heat than CO2 over a 20-year period."? Thanks <3
Thank you so much Lavinia 🙏 Ah sorry I missed adding the link before sending, but that exact sentence is grabbed from https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19032023/fossil-fuel-natural-gas-branding/.
The data underpinning that is due to their chemical makeup - essentially the global warming potential of gas/coal: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/ghg_emission_factors_hub.pdf
Gas is mostly methane > emits C02 and H20, while coal is more carbon based > emits pure CO2 (although I may be wrong as chemistry is not my strong point!) But I think the 'half as much' stat appears to be specific to the US: https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=74&t=11
For the 20-year period methane stat, see: https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/oil-gas-and-coal/methane-emissions_en and:
https://www.iea.org/reports/methane-tracker-2021/methane-and-climate-change
The major problem I didn't mention with gas here is methane leaks:
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/14/1187648553/natural-gas-can-rival-coals-climate-warming-potential-when-leaks-are-counted
Which is why lifetime impact is important:
https://rmi.org/calculating-parity-between-gas-and-coal-life-cycle-emissions/
So good. So powerful. So needed to calling this out. May I ask the reference for "When burned, gas releases about half as much carbon dioxide as coal, but methane traps about 85 times more heat than CO2 over a 20-year period."? Thanks <3