Sandy Khabbazeh makes a pot of Syrian coffee on a stove in Oakland, N.J., on Nov. 22, 2015.

Gas stoves leak climate-warming methane even when they're off

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2022-01-27 16:00:04

Sandy Khabbazeh makes a pot of Syrian coffee on a stove in Oakland, N.J., on Nov. 22, 2015. Carlo Allegri/Reuters hide caption

Your natural gas cooking stove may leak climate-warming methane even when it is turned off, warns a new Stanford University study.

That's important because methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than even carbon dioxide, though it doesn't linger in the atmosphere nearly as long.

Stanford scientists measured methane released from gas cooking stoves in 53 California homes. They examined how much methane is leaked each time you turn the knob in that second before the gas lights on fire. They also measured how much unburned methane is released during cooking. And, unlike most previous studies, they measured how much methane is released when the stove is off.

In fact, it turned out that's when about 80% of methane emissions from stoves happen, from loose couplings and fittings between the stove and gas pipes.

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