Greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas and coal for electricity generation in South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorCohen, Brett
dc.contributor.authorWinkler, Harald
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-17T09:41:41Z
dc.date.available2016-02-17T09:41:41Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.date.updated2016-02-11T08:50:36Z
dc.description.abstractThere is increased interest, both in South Africa and globally, in the use of shale gas for electricity and energy supply. The exploitation of shale gas is, however, not without controversy, because of the reported environmental impacts associated with its extraction. The focus of this article is on the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas, which some literature suggests may be higher than what would have been expected as a consequence of the contribution of fugitive emissions during extraction, processing and transport. Based on some studies, it has been suggested that life-cycle emissions may be higher than those from coal-fired power. Here we review a number of studies and analyse the data to provide a view of the likely greenhouse gas emissions from producing electricity from shale gas, and compare these emissions to those of coal-fired power in South Africa. Consideration was given to critical assumptions that determine the relative performance of the two sources of feedstock for generating electricity - that is the global warming potential of methane and the extent of fugitive emissions. The present analysis suggests that a 100-year time horizon is appropriate in analysis related to climate change, over which period the relative contribution is lower than for shorter periods. The purpose is to limit temperature increase in the long term and the choice of metric should be appropriate. The analysis indicates that, regardless of the assumptions about fugitive emissions and the period over which global warming potential is assessed, shale gas has lower greenhouse gas emissions per MWh of electricity generated than coal. Depending on various factors, electricity from shale gas would have a specific emissions intensity between 0.3 tCO2/MWh and 0.6 tCO2/MWh, compared with about 1 tCO,/MWh for coal-fired electricity in South Africa.en_ZA
dc.identifierhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1590/ sajs.2014/20130194
dc.identifier.apacitationCohen, B., & Winkler, H. (2014). Greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas and coal for electricity generation in South Africa. <i>South African Journal of Science</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17087en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCohen, Brett, and Harald Winkler "Greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas and coal for electricity generation in South Africa." <i>South African Journal of Science</i> (2014) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17087en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCohen, B., & Winkler, H. (2014). Greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas and coal for electricity generation in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 110(3-4), 01-05.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0038-2353en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Cohen, Brett AU - Winkler, Harald AB - There is increased interest, both in South Africa and globally, in the use of shale gas for electricity and energy supply. The exploitation of shale gas is, however, not without controversy, because of the reported environmental impacts associated with its extraction. The focus of this article is on the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas, which some literature suggests may be higher than what would have been expected as a consequence of the contribution of fugitive emissions during extraction, processing and transport. Based on some studies, it has been suggested that life-cycle emissions may be higher than those from coal-fired power. Here we review a number of studies and analyse the data to provide a view of the likely greenhouse gas emissions from producing electricity from shale gas, and compare these emissions to those of coal-fired power in South Africa. Consideration was given to critical assumptions that determine the relative performance of the two sources of feedstock for generating electricity - that is the global warming potential of methane and the extent of fugitive emissions. The present analysis suggests that a 100-year time horizon is appropriate in analysis related to climate change, over which period the relative contribution is lower than for shorter periods. The purpose is to limit temperature increase in the long term and the choice of metric should be appropriate. The analysis indicates that, regardless of the assumptions about fugitive emissions and the period over which global warming potential is assessed, shale gas has lower greenhouse gas emissions per MWh of electricity generated than coal. Depending on various factors, electricity from shale gas would have a specific emissions intensity between 0.3 tCO2/MWh and 0.6 tCO2/MWh, compared with about 1 tCO,/MWh for coal-fired electricity in South Africa. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - South African Journal of Science LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 SM - 0038-2353 T1 - Greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas and coal for electricity generation in South Africa TI - Greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas and coal for electricity generation in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17087 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/17087
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCohen B, Winkler H. Greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas and coal for electricity generation in South Africa. South African Journal of Science. 2014; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17087.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisherAcademy of Science of South Africaen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentEnergy Research Centreen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_ZA
dc.sourceSouth African Journal of Scienceen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.assaf.org.za/index.php?page_id=346
dc.titleGreenhouse gas emissions from shale gas and coal for electricity generation in South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsshale gasen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordselectricityen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsgreenhouse gas emissionsen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsSouth Africaen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsglobal warming potentiaen_ZA
uct.type.filetype
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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