As UNFCC(UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) emerged, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have suggested that switching from coal and oil to natural gas fuels could serve as an interim measure to reduce the effects of global climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide is the most abundant greenhouse gas form anthropogenic sources. The fuel-switching strategy was suggested because natural gas emits less carbon dioxide per unit of energy generated and because carbon dioxide contributes more to global warming than all other greenhouse gases combined.
Because of the poor quality of methane emission estimates available however, it was not known if methane leakage and emissions from natural gas industry operations were large enough to substantially reduce or even eliminate the benefits of the lower carbon dioxide emissions.
To know how much methane emissions affect global warming, the perspective of LCA was used. And the benefits of using natural gas were compared to the volume of methane emissions in the natural gas industry.
This study shows the results as follows : First, the emissions volume of methane from natural gas industry are small compared to the benefits of using natural gas.
Second, building environment-friendly supply system is needed to eliminate environmental pollution in gas industry
Third, as UNFCC emerged, the natural gas industries can make opportunity to expand their business.
