gastivists
"Il gas naturale è metano + marketing"
On the eve of the G20 Leaders' Summit, Extinction Rebellion activists used a series of unpermitted “guerrilla projections” to draw attention to the climate and health dangers of new fossil gas infrastructure. Fifteen grassroots activists beamed infrared footage of usually invisible methane leakage from Italian gas infrastructure onto the walls of the Tiber River in the heart of Rome.
Community members from nearby Civitavecchia co-led the action, criticizing the Italian government’s plans to build a new fossil gas plant in the city as they phase out coal. Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 100 times more potent than CO2 while in the atmosphere. “Natural gas” is more than 95% pure methane.
“Moving from coal to gas is like moving from unfiltered cigarettes to filtered. What our climate and communities need instead are for countries like Italy to quit building fossil fuel infrastructure entirely and start investing instead in renewable energy that supports local economies. Italy’s plans to replace the Enel coal-fired power plant in Civitavecchia with another climate-wrecking fossil fuel shows that their real interest lies in keeping Enel and Snam happy - not in reducing climate emissions,” said Neal Huddon-Cossar from XR Roma.
The case of Civitavecchia has become emblematic in Italy of the national government's climate and energy strategy that relies heavily upon the transformation of its existing coal infrastructure into fossil gas infrastructure. Of all countries in the EU, Italy is planning the largest expansion of fossil gas use in the electricity sector between 2018 and 2025.
“Investing in methane gas today means investing billions of euros that would directly harm public health and workers. The new gas plants do not create stable and lasting employment and expose local communities to serious health risks,” said Riccardo Petrarolo from No Fossil Fuels Civitavecchia.
The recent and ongoing release of infrared methane leakage images taken by the Clean Air Task Force in Europe is part of increased scepticism about EU public funding for new fossil gas infrastructure as a climate strategy.
“Methane in the atmosphere is rising at unprecedented rates. Emissions from the development and use of fossil gas are a major reason, and some research indicates increased emissions from fossil gas are the single largest cause of higher methane in the atmosphere globally over the past 10 to 15 years,” says Robert W. Howarth, PhD, global expert on methane emissions at Cornell University.
Photo By Lorenzo Barutta
"Il gas naturale è metano + marketing"
On the eve of the G20 Leaders' Summit, Extinction Rebellion activists used a series of unpermitted “guerrilla projections” to draw attention to the climate and health dangers of new fossil gas infrastructure. Fifteen grassroots activists beamed infrared footage of usually invisible methane leakage from Italian gas infrastructure onto the walls of the Tiber River in the heart of Rome.
Community members from nearby Civitavecchia co-led the action, criticizing the Italian government’s plans to build a new fossil gas plant in the city as they phase out coal. Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 100 times more potent than CO2 while in the atmosphere. “Natural gas” is more than 95% pure methane.
“Moving from coal to gas is like moving from unfiltered cigarettes to filtered. What our climate and communities need instead are for countries like Italy to quit building fossil fuel infrastructure entirely and start investing instead in renewable energy that supports local economies. Italy’s plans to replace the Enel coal-fired power plant in Civitavecchia with another climate-wrecking fossil fuel shows that their real interest lies in keeping Enel and Snam happy - not in reducing climate emissions,” said Neal Huddon-Cossar from XR Roma.
The case of Civitavecchia has become emblematic in Italy of the national government's climate and energy strategy that relies heavily upon the transformation of its existing coal infrastructure into fossil gas infrastructure. Of all countries in the EU, Italy is planning the largest expansion of fossil gas use in the electricity sector between 2018 and 2025.
“Investing in methane gas today means investing billions of euros that would directly harm public health and workers. The new gas plants do not create stable and lasting employment and expose local communities to serious health risks,” said Riccardo Petrarolo from No Fossil Fuels Civitavecchia.
The recent and ongoing release of infrared methane leakage images taken by the Clean Air Task Force in Europe is part of increased scepticism about EU public funding for new fossil gas infrastructure as a climate strategy.
“Methane in the atmosphere is rising at unprecedented rates. Emissions from the development and use of fossil gas are a major reason, and some research indicates increased emissions from fossil gas are the single largest cause of higher methane in the atmosphere globally over the past 10 to 15 years,” says Robert W. Howarth, PhD, global expert on methane emissions at Cornell University.
Photo By Lorenzo Barutta