Daily Climate: Natural gas plants emit a tiny fraction of the smog-causing gases and slightly more than half of the greenhouse gases emitted by their coal-burning counterparts, according to a soon-to-be published study.
32 ounces of carbon dioxide for every kilowatt hour of energy for a coal plant, compared with 19 ounces for natural gas.
The assessment builds upon earlier reports that substituting natural gas for coal has sharply reduced air pollutants from power generation in the United States.
"Since...