The impact of methane leakage on the role of natural gas in the European energy transition.

ABSTRACT: Decarbonising energy systems is a prevalent topic in the current literature on climate change mitigation, but the additional climate burden caused by methane emissions along the natural gas value chain is rarely discussed at the system level. Considering a two-basket greenhouse gas neutrality objective (both CO₂ and methane), we model cost-optimal European energy transition pathways towards 2050. Our analysis shows that adoption of best available methane abatement technologies can entail an 80% reduction in methane leakage, limiting the additional environmental burden to 8% of direct CO₂ emissions (vs. 35% today). We show that, while renewable energy sources are key drivers of climate neutrality, the role of natural gas strongly depends on actions to abate both associ

SUBMITTER: Shirizadeh B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10505150 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature