The future of gas

Using natural gas instead of coal or oil reduces greenhouse gas impacts only slightly or not at all. To mitigate climate change, it is crucial to stop using all fossil fuels, ban new natural gas boilers and massively expand electricity generation from renewable sources. Methane emissions have a lifetime in the atmosphere of only about 10 years, which is ten times shorter than that of CO₂, but their 20-year global warming potential is more than 80 times that of CO₂. The new scientific report recommends heat pumps and district heating as alternatives to gas boilers. It is crucial to take social injustices into account in this context, because not all people have the necessary means to purchase a new heating system, thus requiring appropriate support mechanisms.

Edition / Volume: EASAC Policy Report, 46
Pages: vi, 82 p.
Standard identifier: ISBN 978-619-92418-2-0 (print) / 978-619-92418-3-7 (PDF)