Natural gas is abundant, cheap and burns cleaner than coal. But will a transition from coal to natural gas in the short term help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming? A new study by scientists -- from the University of California, Irvine; Stanford University; and the nonprofit group Near Zero -- suggests the answer is no.

The researchers developed mathematical models that predicted U.S. energy consumption and emissions based on low levels of natural gas and high levels of natural gas. Though natural gas results in lower amounts of CO2 being released into the atmosphere, such benefits would be mostly mitigated by increased energy consumption.

Because natural gas is cheap and abundant, researchers predict its increased adoption would boost consumption of electricity and slow the necessary transition to cleaner energy sources, like wind and solar.

"In our results, abundant natural gas does not significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions," explained lead author Christine Shearer, an Earth science postdoctoral student at UC Irvine. "This is true even if no methane leaks during production and shipping."

The study was published this week in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the same week world leaders gathered in New York to discuss ways to curb emissions and slow climate change.

"Cutting greenhouse gas emissions by burning natural gas is like dieting by eating reduced-fat cookies," said researcher Steven Davis, assistant professor of Earth science at UC Irvine. "It may be better than eating full-fat cookies, but if you really want to lose weight, you probably need to avoid cookies altogether."

N.D. Gov. Dalrymple hails gas processing investment decision
Bismarck, N.D. (UPI) Sep 26, 2014 - North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple welcomed a $265 million investment decision to add gas processing capacity to the state's emerging production footprint.

North Dakota lags behind other oil-producing states in gas utilization, but set a goal of capturing 90 percent of associated gas within six years. Dalrymple praised the investment decision to add more processing capacity to help reach that goal.

"ONEOK is a strong partner in the growth and development of North Dakota's energy industry and this new plant marks the company's continued investment in our state and in our efforts to reduce flaring and create new markets for natural gas captured in the Bakken," he said in a statement Thursday.

ONEOK's facility in Dunn County, N.D., would be able to process 80 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Bakken shale formation in the state.

Natural gas associated with oil is burned off in most cases in the state because of the lack of technology to utilize that resource.

ONEOK said it's built 11 new natural gas processing plants since 2010, including eight in the Bakken region of North Dakota.

BG Group: Cut methane emissions from gas production
United Nations (UPI) Sep 26, 2014 - Methane emissions from natural gas production need to be managed if gas is to play a role in a low-carbon economy, British energy company BG Group said Friday.

The company said it joined other world oil and gas leaders, as well as partners in the United Nations Environment Program and similar groups, in a clean-air coalition aimed at managing methane emissions.

"Methane emissions comprise only a small proportion of BG Group's overall greenhouse gas emissions," Chris Cox, an executive vice president at BG Group, said in a statement Friday. "But reducing methane emissions has the potential to deliver disproportionally large near-term environmental benefits, making the partnership a priority for us."

The coalition was launched earlier this week from the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit.

The International Energy Agency said cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector could be a cost-effective method to counter climate change.

The oil and gas sector is second only to agriculture in terms of man-made emissions of methane.

Since 1990, the World Meteorological Organization said radiative forcing -- the warming effect on the climate -- is up 34 percent because of the persistence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Methane emissions are 253 percent higher and nitrous oxide emissions were 121 percent higher than the 1750 benchmark.