Coal-to-gas switching threatens energy, security, and global climate goals

This October 2022 briefing by Global Energy Monitor warns that the global trend of replacing coal-fired power plants with gas-fired capacity threatens climate goals and creates significant stranded asset risks. The report argues that the 'bridge fuel' narrative is undermined by methane leakage, volatile gas prices, and the superior economics of renewables with storage.

• Approximately 89.6 GW of gas plants currently in development globally are coal-to-gas conversions or replacements, representing 13% of the 692.5 GW of global gas-fired capacity in development. If built, these projects would result in 5,070 million tonnes of CO2e lifetime emissions.
• East Asia has the highest volume of coal-to-gas conversions in development at 29.6 GW, which would produce 1,843 million tonnes of CO2e lifetime emissions. South Korea (12.7 GW) and Taiwan (11.3 GW) are the leading countries in this region.
• Europe has 19.7 GW of coal-to-gas conversions or replacements in development, accounting for about 29% of the region's 68 GW gas-fired capacity in development. Poland (5.4 GW) and Germany (4.1 GW) are the leading countries in the region.
• North America has 18.6 GW of coal-to-gas conversions or replacements in development, which is approximately 44% of the region's 42.6 GW gas-fired capacity in development. The United States accounts for 16.8 GW and Canada for 1.8 GW.
• There is a planned US$797.4 billion expansion of gas infrastructure across North America (US$389.2 billion), East Asia (US$262.8 billion), and Europe/EU (US$135.4 billion), which the report identifies as an enormous potential stranded asset risk.
• The report argues that gas is not a viable bridge fuel because methane leakage can make gas power worse for the climate than coal if leaks exceed 3% of methane content. Methane has a warming impact 84 times greater than CO2 over a 20-year period.
• Economic analysis from TransitionZero indicates that investing in clean energy is overwhelmingly more economical on a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) basis in Europe. For example, in Poland, the average LCOE for natural gas is $322.5/MWh, while onshore wind with storage is $96.0/MWh.

APA

Martos, J., Joly, J., Langenbrunner, B., Abdallah, N., Ajaz, W., Hassan, H., (Wynn), F. Y., Clark, G., Fralikhina, H., Mei, D., Milanzi, N., Zimmerman, S., & Bauer, S. (2022). Coal-to-gas switching threatens energy, security, and global climate goals. Global Energy Monitor. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/GEM-CoalToGas-Briefing-2022_v4_11.pdf

Chicago

Martos, Jenny, Julie Joly, Baird Langenbrunner, Nagwa Abdallah, Warda Ajaz, Harvey Hassan, Feng Yun (Wynn), et al. Coal-to-gas switching threatens energy, security, and global climate goals. Global Energy Monitor, 2022. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/GEM-CoalToGas-Briefing-2022_v4_11.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Martos |first1=Jenny |last2=Joly |first2=Julie |last3=Langenbrunner |first3=Baird |last4=Abdallah |first4=Nagwa |last5=Ajaz |first5=Warda |last6=Hassan |first6=Harvey |last7=(Wynn) |first7=Feng Yun |last8=Clark |first8=Gregor |last9=Fralikhina |first9=Hanna |display-authors=etal |title=Coal-to-gas switching threatens energy, security, and global climate goals |publisher=Global Energy Monitor |date=October 2022 |url=https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/GEM-CoalToGas-Briefing-2022_v4_11.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{martos2022coaltogas, author = {Martos, Jenny and Joly, Julie and Langenbrunner, Baird and Abdallah, Nagwa and Ajaz, Warda and Hassan, Harvey and (Wynn), Feng Yun and Clark, Gregor and Fralikhina, Hanna and Mei, Dorothy and Milanzi, Nyasha and Zimmerman, Scott and Bauer, Sophia}, title = {{Coal-to-gas switching threatens energy, security, and global climate goals}}, institution = {Global Energy Monitor}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/GEM-CoalToGas-Briefing-2022_v4_11.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }