The following letter was sent by Dr Gideon Polya to Australian MPs and and to media and climate activists in Australia and worldwide on 2 October 2020:
Dear fellow humanitarian/Senator/Honorable Member etc ,
Australia is among world leaders in 16 areas of climate criminality. The pro-coal, pro-gas, anti-Green, neoliberal Australian Coalition Government is committed to a “coal-to-gas transition” and a post-Covid-19 pandemic “gas-led economic recovery”, but …
Gas is dirtier than coal greenhouse gas-wise.
Methane (CH4) is a gas, leaks, is 85% of natural gas, and has a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 105 relative to the same mass of CO2 on a 20 year time frame and with aerosol impacts considered. On this basis and assuming that natural gas is 100% CH4 or an equivalent hydrocarbon, a gas leakage of 2.6% means that the greenhouse gas (GHG) warming effect from the leaked gas is the same as that of the CO2 from burning the remaining 97.4% of the gas.
With no gas leakage, burning 1 tonne of CH4 yields 2.75 tonnes CO2 as compared to burning 1 tonne of carbon (C) yielding 3.67 tonnes CO2.
However suppose we have 100 tonnes (100 t) of methane (CH4) and A tonnes leaks so that (100 – A) tCH4 x 2.75 t CO2-equivalent / t CH4 = A t CH4 x 105 t CO2-equivalent/ t CH4 -> 275 – 2.75A = 105 A - > 107.5A = 275 -> A = 275/107.5 -> A = 2.56 or about 2.6.
Thus with a mere 2.6% of systemic gas leakage (it is about 3% in the US), the burning of 1 tonne gas results in 2 x 0.974 x 2.75 = 5.36 tonnes CO2-equivalent i.e. with 2.6% systemic gas leakage, burning natural gas is about 5.36/3.67 = 1.5 times dirtier GHG-wise than burning coal.
Gas is dirty energy, gas is not clean energy, gas is not clean-er than coal GHG-wise, and indeed gas is dirtier than coal GHG-wise. The present absurd, dangerous and deadly coal-to-gas transition is testament to neoliberal One Percenter and Mainstream greed and mendacity.
While the falsehood of “gas is cleaner than coal GHG-wise” can be attributed to stupidity and ignorance on the part of scientifically illiterate pro-gas politicians, in the face of expert scientific advice (e.g. from smart, first year high school students) it thence becomes a lie, and utterly unforgivable intellectual child abuse when imposed on children by politicians - for which they must be removed from Parliament and all public office by an indignant electorate. Peace is the only way but silence kills and silence is complicity.
Yours sincerely, Dr Gideon Polya, Melbourne, Australia