A Cornell study's contention that hydraulic fracturing would be worse
for climate change than burning coal is being challenged by another
study, also by Cornell researchers.
In April 2011, Robert Howarth, the David R. Atkinson Professor of
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and colleagues published a study in
Climatic Change Letters concluding that methane leakage from hydraulic
fracturing would outweigh any benefits of natural gas as a transition
fuel to greener technologies.
In the spirit of academic discourse, a commentary on that study,
published Jan. 3 by the same journal, challenged these claims. Lawrence
Cathles, professor of earth and atmospheric studies, and his co-authors
took issue with Howarth's analysis and sources of data, which they
called "seriously flawed," and made the case that natural gas is a
greener fuel than coal.
Howarth's group then wrote a response to the Cathles rebuttal, published
Feb. 1 in the same journal, in which they stood by their previous
findings that the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas is greater than
other fossil fuels.
[from ECN Daily - a newsletter for electronic engineers, today]