Ten Ways Methane Gas Companies Are Misleading the Public

Written by Environment America clean energy intern Emily McCabe

甲烷是一种化石燃料，会污染我们的空气，对公众健康构成威胁. But you wouldn’t know it from the way the gas industry portrays it.

What most people call “natural” gas is actually primarily made up of methane, a short-lived but super-potent greenhouse gas. Over the first 20 years after it’s released into the atmosphere, methane causes 80 times the climate-warming harm of carbon dioxide. 

When natural gas is extracted from the ground and transported through pipelines , it releases climate-heating methane into the air. Then, when it is burned, natural gas releases even more global warming pollution into our air in the form of carbon dioxide. 

Methane is responsible for nearly half of global warming to date. 使用甲烷不仅会威胁到地球气候系统的稳定, but burning gas in the home can also be damaging to our health. Cooking with gas, for example, can produce air pollution levels indoors that would exceed outdoor standards. 

Sadly, 大多数美国人并没有充分意识到燃烧甲烷气体来取暖和烹饪食物的危险.  其中一个原因是，公用事业公司对天然气进行了绿色清洗，使其看起来比实际更安全、更清洁. 这里有十个例子，说明天然气公司如何使用误导性语言向消费者宣传天然气.

1. ‘Clean’ gas

Some utilities tell their customers that gas is a ‘clean’ fuel. They claim this because burning gas is cleaner when compared to burning coal. 这种推理不能解释气体在其生命周期的每个阶段造成污染的所有方式. When it comes to global warming, methane pipeline leaks 这意味着天然气在短期内对气候的影响与煤炭相似. A new study from the Harvard T. Chan School of Public Health, 发现我们在家里燃烧的气体含有许多有害健康的空气污染物, and the impacts 水力压裂法开采天然气对我们国家的水道和自然景观的影响一点也不清洁.

Gas companies like 宾夕法尼亚州的费城燃气厂将天然气描述为“最可持续的能源选择”，因为它是“最清洁”的化石燃料. A truly clean source of energy is one that doesn’t pollute our air at all. 像这样的天然气公司忽视了太阳能、风能和地热等真正清洁的能源选择. 

2. ‘Safe’ gas

Utilities work hard to disguise the dangers of gas. For example, Xcel Energy in Colorado describes gas as a “safe” form of energy, when in reality gas is prone to disaster. Methane gas is highly explosive, putting communities at risk. Unfortunately, gas leaks and pipeline incidents occur more often than you’d think, leading to death and injury. In fact, we know that 2,595 gas pipeline incidents occurred 从2010年到2021年，这些只是向联邦政府报告的泄密事件. The total number is much higher. 对天然气的依赖使公众的健康和安全处于危险之中，但Xcel会让你相信情况并非如此.

3. ‘Renewable’ gas

“可再生天然气”(RNG)被业界称为生物甲烷，一种导致气候变暖的污染物. RNG is created by capturing waste methane from landfills, manure and sewage. While that means it does reduce emissions compared to traditional methane gas, when it’s burned, biomethane still emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, just like regular gas. And there isn’t even close to enough of it to keep up with our current demand for methane. Still, companies like 伊利诺斯州的Nicor天然气公司表示，“可再生天然气”是一种有利于环境的选择. The sun that powers our solar panels and the wind that turns turbines are abundant truly renewable resources.

4. ‘Net-zero’ gas

为了实现温室气体净零排放，我们必须停止使用化石燃料作为能源. Atmos Energy in Texas, for example, touts their ability to build “zero net energy” homes as “a part of the solution to achieve our low carbon energy future.” Directly burning gas in buildings and other fossil fuels in the home is a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions. 要真正实现净零排放，需要安装电力技术, powered by renewable energy. 一个真正的清洁能源家庭将使用电空间和水加热以及由太阳能和风能驱动的电器, resulting in zero emissions. 

5. ‘Non-toxic’ gas

A New Jersey gas company, PSEG claims that if natural gas is inhaled in small amounts, it is not harmful or poisonous to humans. But even if it’s true that it isn’t harmful in small amounts, that’s not how this plays out in real life, because cooking with gas without ventilation can produce air pollution levels indoors that would exceed outdoor standards. 这意味着做一些简单无害的事情，比如做饭，就会将污染物释放到我们的家中，一些研究表明，这些污染物会导致疾病的发展 asthma, especially in children, and may worsen symptoms for those with preexisting respiratory illnesses. One report compared 在孩子周围使用无通风的煤气炉与接触二手烟的影响.

6. ‘Organic’ gas sources

天然气公司经常使用误导性的语言来掩盖他们的产品对环境造成的危害. Utilities like PG&加州的E公司将他们的生物甲烷描述为一种来自“无害”和“有机”来源的燃料. 这些词对消费者有积极的含义，可能会使他们忽视生物甲烷燃烧造成的损害. The use of this language masks the fact that biomethane is still methane, 哪种燃料在燃烧过程中经常泄漏并将二氧化碳释放到大气中，使地球变暖. 在所谓的环境效益上，使用欺骗消费者的词语被称为“洗绿”&E is guilty of it.

7. Using gas to meet our climate goals

In the United States, 乔·拜登总统设定了到2030年实现100%无碳污染电力的目标. Many other states and localities have committed to 100% renewable energy. Gas companies like Washington Gas, which serves Washington, D.C., and the state of Maryland, claim “natural gas is a foundational fuel that can help us achieve our climate goals.这与普林斯顿大学的一项新研究相矛盾.S. 到2050年达到净零排放(这是防止气候变化最坏影响的必要条件), methane gas production would need to decline by up to 90%. 如果我们需要减产到这种程度，甲烷就不能继续作为“基础燃料”, 相反，我们需要专注于用清洁电力为我们的家庭和建筑供电. 

8. More efficient than electrification

电力技术的进步使它们比化石燃料的同类产品效率更高. Electric technologies like heat pumps, 热泵热水器和电磁炉是替代家用化石燃料电器的有效选择. Yet the Texas Gas Service website claims that gas excels at efficiency. In reality, 由太阳能和风能驱动的电力技术比使用天然气的效率要高得多. For example, an electric heat pump produces 3-6 times as much heat per unit of energy as a gas furnace. 可持续发展的未来取决于可再生能源的电力，而不是化石燃料.

9. Methane gas vehicles as clean transportation

天然气公司想让你相信运输需要燃烧化石燃料. In Maryland, 华盛顿天然气市场将压缩天然气作为汽油和柴油的清洁替代品, claiming the emissions “dissipate seamlessly into the air”. 但压缩天然气汽车仍然会排放气候污染，使地球变暖. 该公司甚至没有提到更清洁的交通选择——比如电动汽车. Cars that run on electricity have zero tailpipe emissions, making them essential to reducing emissions in the transportation sector. 

10. Gas propaganda in children’s coloring books

也许天然气公司使用的最阴险的营销策略是针对儿童的. NW Natural in Portland, Oregon, 向学校免费发送活动小册子，赞扬天然气的好处. 在这些书中，该公司将天然气称为“清洁”的运输燃料. 这本书没有提到的是，例如，存在更清洁的交通方式, electric buses that do not emit harmful emissions. Gas companies know that children are the next generation of consumers, and are trying to influence how kids perceive gas through childhood education. NW Natural is not alone. Evrersource in Massachusetts has provided similar books to schools, and Xcel in Colorado has similar downloadable classroom materials. 

Americans are increasingly 他们关心气候变化，当他们做出能源选择时，他们应该知道有关天然气影响的事实. It’s time gas companies stopped greenwashing methane gas.

Image: Burning Stove, pexels.com (CCO)