Renewables are the only way forward

Philip J Milton claims that gas is considered green by many leading economies. This needs unpicking as gas use clearly still emits greenhouse gases.

Gas is often touted as a transition fuel for electricity production being, on the face of it, less polluting than coal or oil. But it is not as good as some think. Remember that natural gas is primarily methane, a potent greenhouse gas if it gets into the atmosphere.

What Professor Tony Ingraffea says about this is informative. He was part of the American team that developed the gas extraction technique we call fracking. He firmly believed that this would help the US transition from coal and therefore help reduce emissions.

Later he found that fracking led to methane leaks all along the extraction and transmission chain which, by his calculations, wiped out any benefit. These methane leaks at fracking sites can even be measured from space. Methane is 80 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2 over a 20-year period.

Professor Tony Ingraffea, having taken money to develop fracking for 25 years, is now saying stop because of the methane implications. He asks what kind of hell his grandchildren are going to have to pay for his mistake. It takes a lot to admit an error of this magnitude and I applaud him.

When it comes to investments we choose to make from today onwards, we are not lacking an alternative to fossil fuels.

Renewables are cleaner, cheaper and quicker to deliver than new sources of gas and oil, and that is where we need to invest.

Stephen Aves By email