In the Paris Agreement, many nations set ambitious global goals to stabilize and reduce carbon emissions to mitigate climate change. A large share of these emissions is caused by electricity production. Scientists have been debating the viability of using natural gas as a transition fuel while renewable energies mature technologically and economically. Although natural gas might help the energy transition by reducing emissions compared to coal, there are other long-term implications of investing in natural gas which can work against reaching climate goals. One concern is that investments in natural gas might crowd out investments in renewable alternatives.

This research reviews the literature on the role of natural gas in reducing carbon emissions to mitigate climate change and to bridge between coal and renewable technologies. We advance the debate by laying out how various positive and negative effects of natural gas interrelate. Our research warns that natural gas’ negative delayed and global effects can easily outweigh the positive immediate and local effects unless precautions are taken.

Existing studies agree that natural gas helps avoid greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, while unintended long term effects might also hinder the transition into renewables. Our review helps to inform the policy-making process by reviewing the systemic effects of using natural gas as a transition fuel and suggests policy actions to avoid the negative long term consequences.

在《巴黎协定》中，许多国家设定了雄心勃勃的全球目标，以稳定和减少碳排放来缓解气候变化。这些排放中很大一部分是由电力生产引起的。科学家一直在争论使用天然气作为过渡燃料的可行性，而可再生能源在技术上和经济上都已成熟。尽管与煤炭相比，天然气可以通过减少排放量来帮助能源转型，但是投资天然气还有其他长期影响，这可能不利于实现气候目标。人们担心的是，天然气投资可能会挤出可再生能源替代品的投资。

这项研究回顾了有关天然气在减少碳排放，缓解气候变化以及在煤炭和可再生技术之间架起桥梁作用的文献。我们通过阐述天然气的各种正面和负面影响是如何相互联系来推进辩论的。我们的研究警告说，除非采取预防措施，否则天然气的负面延迟影响和全球影响很容易超过正面和局部的正面影响。

现有研究认为，天然气可在短期内避免温室气体排放，而意料之外的长期影响也可能阻碍向可再生能源的过渡。我们的审查通过审查使用天然气作为过渡燃料的系统性影响，有助于为决策过程提供信息，并建议采取政策措施避免负面的长期后果。