Can Australian gas help the world navigate the climate crisis? Or is it just more hot air?

‘There is an array of questions you need to answer before you can compare the climate impacts of gas to coal, not only in terms of emissions but also the effect that supplying LNG has on the uptake of renewable energy.’ Photograph: Ken Mulvaney

Is Australia’s multibillion dollar gas industry going to help the region and the world decarbonise, as its supporters and the industry claims?

Neat soundbites that gas is less dirty than coal, or factoids suggesting liquefied natural gas exports are pushing out those of more polluting coal, are plentiful and slip easily from the tongue, but are almost always bereft of detail.