“If the emissions are a lot more than what is being estimated now, it could jeopardise our commitments made at Paris,” said report author Tim Forcey from the Melbourne Energy Institute…Gas has been spruiked as the lower-emissions fossil fuel since, when burned, it emits 60% less carbon dioxide than coal for each unit of energy produced…But unburned gas – mostly made up of methane – is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, exerting a warming influence 84 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame…As a result, gas accidentally released directly to the air during extraction or transportation, in what are called “fugitive emissions”, could swamp the benefits of gas over coal…studies of unconventional gas – shale and coal seam gas – in the US have found fugitive emissions are often as much as 17% of the gas produced…Since Australian coal seam gas is closer to the surface, the researchers said it was likely that Australian fugitive emissions are even higher. In one US region, fugitive emissions from coal seam gas were 30% – 300 times that assumed by the industry in Australia.

In 2021, both Qatar and Australia will export roughly the same amount of gas. But because of generous tax breaks to the fossil fuel industry, Fairfax Media reported this month that Qatar will receive $26.6bn in tax revenue, while Australia will receive less than $1bn.

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