We only have 12 years left to avoid the deadliest impacts of climate change according to the IPCC – the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Shannon LNG will lock us into 30 years of dependence on an even more damaging fossil fuel than coal.

Studies led by NASA have confirmed that the US fracked shale gas industry is the most responsible for the huge rise in global methane emissions over the past decade. This gas is mostly composed of methane – and methane traps at least 86 times more heat than carbon during its first 20 years after it is released into the atmosphere, making it a much more potent greenhouse gas.



Twenty years ago, there was hopes that gas is cleaner, and could act as a ‘bridge’ or ‘transition fuel’ until renewables take over. That’s because, when burnt, shale gas releases only half the carbon dioxide that is released when ‘conventional’ fossil fuels such as coal are burnt. However, the latest research tells us that raw methane leaks at every stage of the fracking and distribution process. In fact, so much raw methane is leaking that any ‘clean fuel’ advantage of fracked shale gas over coal is lost.

You can listen to more details in the interview with Professor Robert Howarth of Cornell University below or read more here.



Just how much raw methane is leaking? New York Times journalist Mark Bittman uncovers frightening results when he goes ‘Chasing Methane’.