Not so fast on fracking, UN agency tells developing countries
Introduction:
The hydraulic extraction of natural gas — known as fracking — produces cleaner energy than oil and coal, but it’s not necessarily in the best interests of the world’s poorest countries, UN development experts said on Thursday.
In a new report by UNCTAD, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, natural gas is described as a “bridge fuel” for States aiming to move to renewable energy sources.
But it has disadvantages, too, not least the fact that its main component is methane, whose global warming potential is 28 times higher than the carbon dioxide that’s found in other fossil fuels.
Janvier Nkurunziza, Chief of UNCTAD’s Commodity Research and Analysis Section, has been talking to Daniel Johnson about the report’s findings.
The hydraulic extraction of natural gas — known as fracking — produces cleaner energy than oil and coal, but it’s not necessarily in the best interests of the world’s poorest countries, UN development experts said on Thursday.
A new report by UNCTAD, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, describes natural gas as a “bridge fuel” for States aiming to move to renewable energy sources, but among its disadvantages lies the fact that its main component is methane, whose global warming potential is 28 times higher than the carbon dioxide that’s found in other fossil fuels.
Janvier Nkurunziza, Chief of UNCTAD’s Commodity Research and Analysis Section, has been talking to Daniel Johnson about the report’s findings.