Main menu For students For teachers Explore our subjects Student events & courses

Explore

More for students
Sign in

Teaching Economics

Explanations

Externalities - Why Nobody Knows How Much Methane Is Leaking

Graham Watson

23rd March 2023

Share this content:

This Bloomberg clip looks at the notion that natural gas is an environmentally-friendly 'bridge fuel' - however, is this really true?

Well, it depends upon the extent to which methane - please ignore the pronunciation - leaks into the atmosphere. Methane has 80 times the global warming power of carbon dioxide, and this means that might be worse for the environment. Provided that more than 3% of the methane produced leaks into the atmosphere, production of fossil fuels might be cleaner.

And the latest data isn't encouraging. It's well worth watching - and again highlights the fact that an absence of data, and thus a lack of information means that capping methane leaks is a major problem.

Externalities - Why Nobody Knows How Much Methane Is Leaking
Share this content:

Graham Watson

Graham Watson has taught Economics for over twenty years. He contributes to tutor2u, reads voraciously and is interested in all aspects of Teaching and Learning.

You might also like

The Microeconomics of the Festival Wasteland: Why Do We Abandon Tents?

2nd September 2026

Micro and Macro Case Study: Norway and Climate Change

Topical case studies

In the News Teaching Activity – what are the economic costs of flytipping? (Dec 2025)

4th December 2025

In the News Teaching Activity – Are China’s climate targets ambitious enough? (Sept 2025)

29th September 2025

In the News Teaching Activity – How does falling cement output affect the UK economy? (Sept 2025)

11th September 2025

Micro & Macro Effects of a Carbon Tax | A-Level Economics Quick Revision

27th May 2025

Market Failure for Paper 1 Micro (2025) | Essential A-Level Economics Revision

7th May 2025

In the News Teaching Activity – the environmental costs of fast fashion and how these can be reduced (May 2025)

1st May 2025