Is Shale Gas Carbon-Friendly? A Look at Contrasting Studies

A recent study from Carnegie Mellon University gave shale gas a carbon-friendly seal of approval, concluding a shift to natural gas extracted through hydraulic fracturing could cut greenhouse gasses by up to fifty percent.
The finding directly contradicted research from Cornell University, which argued fracking is worse than coal, when it comes to carbon emissions.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Don Hopey dug into the CMU report, to explain the discrepancy.

“Shale gas is better than coal when it comes to electricity generation,” said Paulina Jaramillo, an assistant research professor in CMU’s Engineering and Public Policy Department and one of six authors of the study. “We looked at the life cycle of gas and coal emissions, and even though methane emissions from gas are higher than from coal, the combustion emissions from coal really overwhelm them.”
The study’s findings estimating the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of the two fossil fuels is different than a Cornell University study in April that said shale gas methane emissions are as harmful or more harmful than carbon dioxide emissions from coal combustion.
But the Cornell study uses different assumptions for drilling, fugitive gas emissions and power plant combustion efficiencies. It’s also based on a 20-year global warming potential for greenhouse gas emissions instead of the CMU study’s 100-year time frame.

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