'Cleaner then coal' - the truth of that story is leaking away

Queensland's coal seam gas industry
 now has more than 7000 wells.

Gas has long been touted as cleaner than coal and marketed as a "transition" fuel until the mass take-up of renewable energy becomes viable.

But a growing chorus of voices from Australia and overseas is warning that any perceived benefits could easily be lost with just small leakages.

Professor Peter Rayner from the University of Melbourne says it takes just 1-2 per cent of gas leakage for any advantage to be lost.

Australia's coal seam gas industry claims its leakage is just 0.02 per cent but increased detection of leaks in the US – triggering a flurry of studies – suggest some big changes are in the winds.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in The Sydney Morning Herald – “'Sleeper issue' of leaking coal seam gas fields may blow hole in emissions goals.”