European Union
Climate idea
Climate idea
Patrik Lobergh
10 w
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The word fossil gas survived the gas industry's criticism
It should be called fossil gas, not natural gas. This is now confirmed by the Swedish state language authority Isof for the second time. This after previously receiving harsh criticism from the industry organization "Energigas", which wants to keep the word natural gas.

At the end of December, the Sustainability Terms Group at the state Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof) recommended that the word fossil gas should be used instead of the more archaic term natural gas. The justification was that the word natural gas can lead the mind to something renewable and environmentally friendly. The word refers to the climate-damaging gas that has formed in the bedrock over millions of years, and which cannot be recreated at the rate we are now consuming it.

The decision received strong criticism from the industry organization Energigas. The organization's CEO wrote in an email to Isof that the word fossil gas is misleading and that "If it is important to emphasize that the gas is fossil in some context, it is in that case better to say fossil natural gas, fossil LPG or fossil hydrogen."

The criticism led to the Sustainability Term Group - which, in addition to linguists, consists of experts from universities, authorities, interest organizations and the media - decided to hold a new meeting and discuss a possible change to the recommendation.

The meeting was held on Thursday, and ended after two hours of discussion with the recommendation not to be changed.

- Fossil gas is a term that more clearly highlights that it is a gas of fossil origin, says Linnea Hanell, language conservator at the Institute for Languages and Folklore (Isof), to Dagens Nyheter.

- In addition, corresponding terms have started to be used in other languages, and there is an international debate about the risk of this gas flying under the radar in climate work if people do not perceive that it is a fossil fuel.

She emphasizes that the recommendation is only indicative and not an order.

- There is nothing to prevent anyone who wants to continue using the term natural gas, and there may be contexts where it is a more appropriate term. Therefore, we list it as a synonym.

Which words are you going to tackle now?

- In this work, it has become clear that the very term fossil as an adjective is something we need to work with, says Linnea Hanell.


Ordet fossilgas överlevde gasindustrins kritik
Ordet fossilgas bör användas i stället för naturgas. Det slår statliga Isof fast för andra gången, efter pågryckningar från gasindustrin.
https://www.dn.se/sverige/ordet-fossilgas-overlevde-gasindustrins-kritik/


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10 w
The name is misguided, an armature would think this gas is safe to our environment.
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10 w
Natural gas is indeed a misleading name
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10 w
@munene_mugambi Just like natural oil...
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10 w
@munene_mugambi you may tend to think that "natural"is environmental friendly,let it remain fossil,it shouldn't be natural fossil either...it can be very misleading..
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10 w
@rosebellendiritu Indeed