Quantifying the Industrial Facility-Level Emission Rate of Methane in Various Segments of the Natural Gas Industry

Scott C. Herndon1, Joseph R Roscioli1, Tara Irene Yacovitch2, Cody R Floerchinger2, Austin Mitchell3, Daniel S Tkacik3, R Subramanian3, Allen L Robinson3, David M Martinez4, Timothy L Vaughn5, Laurie Williams4, Daniel Zimmerle6 and Anthony Marchese4, (1)Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, MA, United States, (2)Aerodyne Research Inc, Billerica, MA, United States, (3)Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, (4)Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States, (5)Colorado State University, Energy Institute, Fort Collins, CO, United States, (6)Colorado State University, Energy Institute, Fort Collins, United States
Abstract:
Methane, the dominant component in natural gas, is a potent short-lived radiative forcer. Recent technological advances in the extraction of oil and gas have increased the production rate dramatically since early 2000. In the context of CO2 emissions per energy generated, natural gas promises a tantalizing thermodynamic advantage over coal and other hydrocarbons. Natural gas emissions to the atmosphere along the entire path from well to customer, however, can wipe out the radiative forcing advantage once they surpass a threshold fraction of distributed gas. Recent studies have been undertaken to assess the methane emissions at various types of facilities within different sectors of the oil and gas industry. The distribution of observed facility level emission rates along with other results and conclusions from those studies will be presented. The implications that these findings have on the emissions inventories from these sectors will be discussed.
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