"Boston's aging pipeline network leaks about $90 million worth of natural gas each year, marking a sizeable financial loss and a threat to the environment, according to a study released on Thursday by Harvard researchers.

The findings come as state energy officials struggle with a regional infrastructure shortfall that has left Massachusetts tight on winter heating fuel supplies during harsh cold snaps over the past three years.

'Some 2.7 percent of the gas that is brought to the Boston region never makes it to customers, it escapes into the atmosphere,' according to the study, which will be published Thursday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

Richard Valdmanis reports for Reuters January 23, 2015. [2]