We, the U.S., flare off large and increasing amounts of methane natural gas. To my way of thinking, this means that electricity generated from methane fuel cells, or hydrogen from methane reformers, should be scored as GHG free, because otherwise, the natural gas would be flared off, with at least the same environmental impact.
Comments solicited.
In the Northeast the gas we burn comes from the Marcellus shalre. The wells are drilled specifically for the gas and a large fraction escapes unburned. Not only is it not GHG free, it's likely worse that coal on the relevant time scale, which is decadal. Other than that, is there a pipeline infrastructure available to distribute the flared gas? I doubt it. See http://phys.uri.edu/~nigh/gwp-preprint.pdf for more.
Burning methane generates CO2, an undesired GHG.
The only way to avoid that is capturing it and combining it with hydrogen to produce other fuels, like methane or methanol, which can be burned without emitting other GHG's.
Of course hydrogen woould be producd by water electrolysys.
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