Shell exec: 'Reduce emissions with natural gas'

The world must turn to natural gas if it is to successfully reduce emissions and end its dependency on the oil industry.

That is according to Malcolm Brinded, upstream director for Shell International, who explained at a conference in Amsterdam this week that the fuel is "abundant, acceptable and affordable".

He told the audience at the Gastech meeting: "In saying this I realise I am preaching to the converted" but added that "we have got this right".

Mr Brinded warned that global energy demand is set to rise by 2050 and that by this time, hydrocarbons will be one of the most relied on source of power as climate change worsens.

Maike Sippel of the University of Stuttgart recently said that the oil industry could find it hard to reduce emissions based on data from city authorities, due to the different accounting methods used.

He said that there are a range of different tracking methods used when estimating the carbon output of different cities' populations.