US carbon emissions from gas to surpass coal

Despite gas being a cleaner-burning fuel higher demand has boosted pollutants

This year US carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from burning natural gas will surpass those from coal for the first time in almost half a century. Energy-related emissions from natural gas are expected to be 137m tonnes higher than those from coal this year, reaching 1.506bn tonnes, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This will be the first time that emissions from natural gas will be higher than coal's since 1972, the EIA said. Last year emissions from burning natural gas were around 0.4% below coal's, at 1.48bn tonnes. The rise in gas-related CO2 emissions this year is down to surging demand for the fuel from the power sector, while coal use is falling. This is despite ga