‘Gas Certification’ Is Greenwashing, Greens Charge in Contested New Report

"Gas utilities see certified gas as a way to sell low-carbon fuel at a premium. U.S. senators are calling on the FTC to investigate the industry’s claims."

"A growing effort by the fossil fuel industry to sell natural gas as a low-carbon fuel is little more than greenwashing, according to a new report by climate advocacy organizations.

Gas producers looking to differentiate their products as clean fuel are increasingly seeking “gas certification” from third-party companies, which monitor wells and other gas infrastructure for climate-wrecking methane emissions.

However, gas certification is an unregulated industry. The monitoring systems companies employ routinely miss the methane they were designed to detect, according to a June 18 report by Oil Change International and Earthworks.

“Certified gas is a greenwashing scam,” said Dakota Raynes, a researcher with Earthworks and an author of the report. “There is not nearly enough evidence from the certifiers or the oil and gas industry itself that this gas is actually indeed [associated with] lower methane emissions.”"

Phil McKenna reports for Inside Climate News June 25, 2024.

Source: Inside Climate News, 06/26/2024