The claims were made last week by Griffith University's Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe who said developing shale gas would have "a catastrophic impact on Australia's efforts to slow climate change".

Professor Lowe last week released a report "Climate Change Impacts of proposed shale gas development in the NT".

Experts have already suggested the shale gas industry could lift Australia's greenhouse gases as much as three per cent.

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association today said Professor Lowe "grossly exaggerated" the likely carbon emissions from proposed gas developments in the NT.

APPEA director NT, Keld Knudsen said Professor Lowe over-estimates gas production by at least 10 times those envisaged by industry and independent observers.

"He claims that developing the NT's gas reserves could contribute about 600 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year if production projections play out. But his estimates on likely NT onshore gas production are staggering and are simply not based in any realistic scenario," Mr Knudsen said.

"Professor Lowe is effectively projecting that over 50 new LNG processing trains would be built in Darwin and that the NT would produce about half of current global LNG production.

"In painting an alarming and unrealistic scenario around production levels and emissions from onshore gas development, Professor Lowe is distorting public discussion on resource development in the NT.

"The gas industry urges all participants in this discussion to stick to the facts and stick to the science.

"The facts are that the use of natural gas gives us the opportunity to dramatically cut emissions from other forms of power generation.

"The Australian Government has calculated that Australia's exports of natural gas have the potential to cut global emissions by up to 152 million tonnes of CO2-e a year.

"The NT has the potential to significantly increase that positive contribution, while enjoying significant economic benefits."

The NT Government it still negotiating with the Federal Government on a way to provide a trade off from any rise in greenhouse gas production from shale gas.

The NT Government has set an a long-term "aspirational" target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Professor Lowe, who was the president of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 2004 to 2014, said he used CSIRO research and comparisons with the US shale gas industry for his calculations.

He hit back at an attack from gas-industry body APPEA, labelling the organisation's claims as "dishonest".

"It is just dishonest to claim exporting gas could reduce global emissions by hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year," said emeritus professor Ian Lowe.

"There is absolutely no evidence that it will reduce emissions at all."

Professor Lowe said, "every scenario produces an unacceptable acceleration of climate change, at a time when the Paris agreement commits us to reduce emissions.

"My report analyses a range of production scenarios, from a small gas industry to the sort of expansion proposed by the corporations involved and endorsed by the Memorandum of Understanding between the NT and Australian governments."

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