Pennsylvania DEP Announces New Actions to Reduce Methane Emissions From the Oil and Gas Industry

On January 19, 2016, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that it would create a new framework of actions for methane reductions from the oil and gas sector. In a statement, DEP declared that working on methane emission reductions is “an integral component of the next update of the Pennsylvania Climate Change Action Plan that will be presented to Governor Wolf in 2016.”

As part of its strategy, DEP recommended the implementation of changes in the permitting system issued for oil and gas exploration and production while also developing Best Management Practices to reduce methane emissions from production, gathering, processing, and transmission facilities. DEP also suggested the development of new standards for existing sources in the Oil and Natural Gas Industry with regard to fugitive methane.

On January 20, 2016, DEP hosted a webinar on New Plans to Reduce Methane Waste to “outline the four main points of the strategy to reduce methane emissions, which contribute to climate change.”

Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow

01/21/2016

The Environmental Defense Fund Releases Nine Reports on Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Operations in the Barnett Shale Region

On July 7, 2015, the scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology published a series of nine reports analyzing the fugitive methane emissions from natural gas operations in the Barnett Shale Region, including the areas of Dallas and Fort Worth. The Environmental Defense Fund commissioned research scientists and academic researchers to draft the reports back in 2013.

The researchers assessed the Barnett Shale Region methane emissions using top-down and bottom-up estimates and concluded that small production sites were responsible for large methane emissions. The researchers point to malfunctioning wells, compressor stations and processing plants as the direct cause of methane emissions. The reports also opine that fugitive methane emissions in the Barnett Shale Region are higher than the estimates in the U.S. EPA’s greenhouse gas inventory.

Further information on the EPA greenhouse gas inventory can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/ghgreporting/.

The reports are available at:

http://pubs.acs.org/action/doSearch?field1=AllField&publication=40025991&target=default&targetTab=research&text1=barnett%2Bshale&startPage=&Earliest=[20150707%20TO%2020150714].

Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow

07/14/2015

Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Fugitive Methane

On November 5, 2013, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing to discuss fugitive methane, with testimony coming from the EPA, oil and gas producers, and academics/researchers.  Fugitive methane is methane that is not capturing during oil and gas production and that escapes into the atmosphere.  The hearing discussed the recent Methane Emissions study by Dr. David Allen of the University of Texas and Dr. A. Daniel Hill of Texas A&M, which found that natural gas production releases significantly less methane than the 2011 EPA estimates and that pneumatic devices at wellsites account for more methane releases than estimated by the EPA in 2011.  The subcommittee discussed the economics of natural gas, the possibility of LNG exports, and the financial incentive that energy companies have in capturing methane. The subcommittee further discussed environmental concerns, such as the global warming ramifications of methane, which is 28 times stronger than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.  Several of the panelists discussed how to better capture or prevent fugitive methane, such as with better methane capture devices or with flaring, which burns methane, turning it into carbon dioxide.

A video of the subcommittee hearing is available here: http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_id=0ad995f7-0b75-a66e-155c-bc7397b70d86

The methane emissions study by the University of Texas is available here: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/09/10/1304880110.full.pdf+html

Written by: Tom Panighetti

November 6, 2013