Current:Home > My2015: The Year Methane Leaked into the Headlines-InfoLens
2015: The Year Methane Leaked into the Headlines
View Date:2024-12-23 11:09:44
Scientists made significant progress in 2015 measuring methane emissions from the natural gas industry, continuing a years-long quest to quantify the industry’s contribution to climate change. What they found adds to a growing body of evidence that methane leaks are sporadic, difficult to predict, and often far larger than existing government estimates.
Many of the studies came from the Environmental Defense Fund’s $18 million project. Launched in 2011, it aims to measure emissions from every sector of the industry, including production, storage, transmission and natural gas vehicles. The project has drawn praise for its scope, vision and scrupulous methods. It’s also been criticized for accepting industry funding and sometimes relying on collaboration with oil and gas operators to obtain measurements.
Over a 20-year period, methane is 86 times more powerful at warming the planet than carbon dioxide. Over 100 years, its potency dwindles to 34.
This means that even small methane leaks throughout the system can erase any climate benefit of burning natural gas instead of coal.
The most recent EDF paper, released in December, found methane emissions from Texas’ Barnett Shale were 90 percent higher than estimates from the U.S. EPA estimates. The study marked the end of a massive two-year campaign to gather data through “top-down” and “bottom-up” techniques (collecting data from the air and on the ground, respectively)—two methods that often yield conflicting numbers.
EDF’s study found greater agreement between the methods than previous studies, and the authors created a statistical analysis to more accurately predict the presence of “superemitters”—facilities that emit more than the expected volume of methane. In the Barnett, they found that half the emissions at any time came from just 2 percent of the facilities. The emissions varied over time and by location, which will complicate efforts to find and fix the largest emitters.
Superemitters were also important in a separate EDF study, which found that natural gas storage sites and compressor stations, which pressurize the gas for transport, leak $240 million worth of methane nationwide per year. In that case, more than 20 percent of the leaks came from 4 percent of the facilities. The total amount released was close to EPA estimates.
EDF’s work came under intense scrutiny this summer, when Touché Howard, a methane expert who has worked on several EDF-funded studies, published a peer-reviewed paper that described a flaw he had found in a commonly used methane detector. The flaw causes the detectors to underestimate methane emissions. Howard believes the problem affected the EDF paper, an allegation the authors deny. The implications go far beyond EDF: hundreds of technicians use the same type of instrument to report industry emissions to the EPA. Bacharach Inc., the manufacturer of the instrument, said the detector wasn’t intended for the type of methane measurements being taken today, and would revise its manual to reduce the possibility of future problems. The company has approached the EPA to discuss further testing.
Other methane studies emerged from efforts not related to EDF. A city-wide study in New York found more than 1,000 methane leaks from Manhattan’s pipelines, a leak rate far larger than those found in Cincinnati and Durham, N.C.—two other cities where similar studies had been done. Researchers attributed the difference to Manhattan’s aging infrastructure, which is full of older pipes that are prone to leaks.
In Cambridge, Mass., a nonprofit is mapping local pipeline leaks to highlight the problem. As of September, the group had mapped more than 20,000 leaks in the state using data provided by local utilities. The organization published maps showing the exact location of each leak. Because utilities only have to repair leaks that pose an explosion risk, many leaks remain unplugged; the oldest leaks on the maps date back to 1985.
Last January, a separate study published as part of the EDF series found that methane leaks in Boston were two to three times the EPA’s estimates. It was the first peer-reviewed study of leaks from urban areas.
On the policy front, the EPA proposed methane rules as a first step in the Obama administration’s goal to slash emissions from the oil and gas sector 40-45 percent by 2025 (compared to 2012 levels). Environmentalists criticized the proposal because they rely in part on voluntary action. The EPA recently concluded a public comment period, and the final rules will be released in 2016.
veryGood! (7993)
Related
- Charles Hanover: A Summary of the UK Stock Market in 2023
- Parts of Southern California under quarantine over oriental fruit fly infestation
- My Chemical Romance returns with ‘The Black Parade’ tour
- Parts of Southern California under quarantine over oriental fruit fly infestation
- 'Treacherous conditions' in NYC: Firefighters battling record number of brush fires
- Man found dead in tanning bed at Indianapolis Planet Fitness; family wants stricter policies
- DWTS' Gleb Savchenko Shares Why He Ended Brooks Nader Romance Through Text Message
- A herniated disc is painful, debilitating. How to get relief.
- Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday light display in Manhattan changing up this season
- Travis Kelce's and Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Houses Burglarized
Ranking
- Jelly Roll goes to jail (for the best reason) ahead of Indianapolis concert
- A pregnant woman sues for the right to an abortion in challenge to Kentucky’s near-total ban
- Controversial comedian Shane Gillis announces his 'biggest tour yet'
- Britney Spears reunites with son Jayden, 18, after kids moved in with dad Kevin Federline
- Two 'incredibly rare' sea serpents seen in Southern California waters months apart
- Residents urged to shelter in place after apparent explosion at Louisville business
- Demonstrators waved Nazi flags outside 'The Diary of Anne Frank' production in Michigan
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responds to CeeDee Lamb's excuse about curtains at AT&T Stadium
Recommendation
-
Fantasy football Week 11: Trade value chart and rest of season rankings
-
Mike Tyson-Jake Paul: How to watch the fight, time, odds
-
Chris Evans Shares Thoughts on Starting a Family With Wife Alba Baptista
-
Man found dead in tanning bed at Indianapolis Planet Fitness; family wants stricter policies
-
Homes of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce burglarized, per reports
-
Shawn Mendes quest for self-discovery is a quiet triumph: Best songs on 'Shawn' album
-
After Baltimore mass shooting, neighborhood goes full year with no homicides
-
Rachael Ray Details Getting Bashed Over Decision to Not Have Kids