New technologies, including fracking, have transformed the natural gas industry over the last decade, bringing down utility bills and creating countless jobs and other opportunities in shale fields around the country. Plus, the federal Energy Information Administration reports our natural gas boom is bringing down carbon emissions in the United States more than any other factor.
Yet, there’s a hitch. Natural gas — it’s a gas. It leaks. That leaking, which happens where natural gas is drilled, where it’s stored and where it’s piped, threatens to undermine the climate benefits of this “cleaner” fossil fuel if not taken seriously.
This audio special from Inside Energy takes a look at the threat leaks pose for the natural gas industry — how serious it really is, what anti-leak technologies have been developed and how effective landmark regulations developed in the state of Colorado have been in addressing the problem.
