Natural gas in Aussie environment push

SYDNEY, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Australia's natural gas sector wants a bigger role to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Joining the debate on the need to halt global warming, Cheryl Cartwright, chief executive of the Australian Pipeline Industry Association, said too much reliance is being put on coal in energy generation.
She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that, until renewable energy sources come on line, it would be better to use natural gas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Australia has enough known reserves of natural gas to last 100 years and natural gas greenhouse emissions in energy generation "are far lower than coal," Cartwright says.
The Australian government is spending millions of dollars on funding research projects to extract methane from coal and to bury carbon dioxide emissions underground.
Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane says Australia is leading the research into cleaner burning and emission technologies and the natural gas sector should see itself as "part of the mix."Story Tools: -->