Using natural gas: Expensive & environmentally reckless
As Georgia continues using natural gas to produce electricity at new and existing powerplants, the legitimacy of this policy deserves greater scrutiny. Burning natural gas to generate electricity is based on dubious claims asserting lower carbon emissions than burning coal and greater round-the-clock reliability than using solar or wind power. Recent research and tech innovations challenge both these claims.
According to Environmental Defense Fund, U.S. natural-gas pipelines leak more methane than previously estimated. Those leaks have the same near-term heat-trapping impacts as driving approximately 50 million passenger vehicles. Plus, there are substantial methane leaks at homes, businesses, and factories. Combined, all these leaks, above and below ground, are disturbing.
Because methane (CH4) has far worse environmental effects than carbon dioxide (CO2), even nominal natural-gas leakage significantly worsens climate-change damage. Per ton of emissions, methane has about 80-times the heat-trapping effects as comparable amounts of CO2. Energy experts advise that leaks greater than 2% make using natural gas more harmful than burning coal.
Compounding this often-ignored problem are breakthroughs in battery technology that enable intermittent energy sources of power from sun and wind to support energy needs day-and-night, throughout all weather conditions. The latest iron-air batteries being used at a Google datacenter in Minnesota have a recharge life of 100 hours, with an output of 300 megawatts of power. Supported by this battery backup, the entire facility will be operated using only solar power, at lower cost than burning natural gas.
Georgians deserve energy policy based on facts, not outdated rationalizations.
David Kyler
Center for a Sustainable Coast
912.689.4471