A global energy approach that adopts the kind of natural gas boom currently underway in the U.S. is “misguided” and a path towards further climate change, new research shows.

The finding, based on projections from five research groups from Germany, the U.S., Austria, Italy and Australia, was published online Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Natural gas—booming in the United as a result of fracking technology—has been touted as a “bridge fuel” and embraced by the Obama administration as part of his “all of his all of the above energy strategy.” But the new analysis shows that it is not a viable path towards addressing climate change.

Though natural gas produces fewer CO2 emissions than coal, the researchers’ projected scenarios of 2050 based on integrated energy–economy–climate systems models revealed that increased use of natural gas could actually lead to as much as ten percent higher CO2 emissions.

The problem, the researchers found, is that the boom would lead to lower costs, causing displacement not only of coal but also of renewable energy; further, the lower energy costs could lead to more overall energy use. Lastly, the methane—a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2—released from the production and distribution of natural gas would add to climate change.