Do the fossil fuel industry’s claims of Australia’s gas-fired future stack up?

In this financial year so far, gas has been responsible for only 5.6% of electricity generation in the National Electricity Market (covering 90% of the population) – less than coal, wind, solar and hydro. Photograph: Kelly Barnes/AAP

Australia’s gas industry has launched a major public relations campaign to convince the public of three things: their product is clean, indispensable to our lives and crucial in getting the country to net zero.

With soft, seductive and reassuring voiceovers, a TV ad shows images of hospitals, farms and city lights with the tagline “Natural gas: keeping the country running.”