The Spatial Footprint of Natural Gas-Fired Electricity

Abstract:

Consistent comparisons of the amount of land required for different electricity generation technologies are challenging because land use associated with fossil fuel acquisition and delivery has not been well characterized or empirically grounded. This research focuses on improving estimates of the life cycle land use of natural gas-fired electricity (m2/MWh generated) through the novel combination of inventories of natural gas-related infrastructure, satellite imagery analysis and gas production estimates. We focus on seven counties that represent 98% of the total gas production in the Barnett Shale (Texas), evaluating over 500 sites across five life cycle stages (gas production, gathering, processing, transmission, and power generation as well as produced water disposal). We find that a large fraction of total life cycle land use is related to gathering (midstream) infrastructure, particularly pipelines; access roads related to all stages also contribute a large life cycle share. Results were sensitive to several inputs, including well lifetime, pipeline right of way, number of wells per site, variability of heat rate for electricity generation, and facility lifetime. Through this work, we have demonstrated a novel, highly-resolved and empirical method for estimating life cycle land use from natural gas infrastructure in an important production region. When replicated for other gas production regions and other fuels, the results can enable more empirically-grounded and robust comparisons of the land footprint of alternative energy choices.