[CRNMC] fracking emits 1000 times more methane than EPA predicted

[edward Oberweiser]

hi folks,

I thought this L.A. Times article might give us some more ammunition for
our campaign.

Ed O.

 By Neela Banerjee *This post has been updated. See the note below for
details.*

April 14, 2014, 5:44 p.m.

Drilling operations at several natural gas wells in southwestern
Pennsylvania released methane into the atmosphere at rates that were 100 to
1,000 times greater than federal regulators had estimated, new research
shows.

Using a plane that was specially equipped to measure greenhouse gas
emissions in the air, scientists found that drilling activities at seven
well pads in the booming Marcellus shale formation emitted 34 grams of
methane per second, on average. The Environmental Protection
Agency<http://www.latimes.com/topic/environmental-issues/u.s.-environmental-protection-agency-ORGOV000048.topic>has
estimated that such drilling releases between 0.04 grams and 0.30
grams
of methane per second.

The study <http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/04/10/1316546111>,
published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
adds to a growing body of research that suggests the EPA is gravely
underestimating methane emissions from oil and gas operations. The agency
is expected to issue its own analysis of methane emissions from the oil and
gas sector as early as Tuesday, which will give outside experts a chance to
assess how well regulators understand the problem.

Carbon dioxide released by the combustion of fossil fuels is the biggest
contributor to climate change, but methane — the chief component of natural
gas — is about 20 to 30 times more potent when it comes to trapping heat in
the atmosphere. Methane emissions make up 9% of the country's greenhouse
gas emissions and are on track to increase, according to the White House.

The Pennsylvania study was launched in an effort to understand whether the
measurements of airborne methane matched up with emissions estimates based
on readings taken at ground level, the approach the EPA and state
regulators have historically used.

Researchers flew their
plane<http://science.purdue.edu/shepson/research/bai/alar.html>about a
kilometer above a 2,800 square kilometer area in southwestern
Pennsylvania that included several active natural gas wells. Over a two-day
period in June 2012, they detected 2 grams to 14 grams of methane per
second per square kilometer over the entire area. The EPA’s estimate for
the area is 2.3 grams to 4.6 grams of methane per second per square
kilometer.

Since their upper-end measurements were so much higher than the EPA’s
estimates, the researchers attempted to follow the methane plumes back to
their sources, said Paul Shepson, an atmospheric chemist at Purdue
University<http://www.latimes.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/purdue-university-OREDU0000050.topic>who
helped lead the study. In some cases, they were able to quantify
emissions from individual wells.

The researchers determined that the wells leaking the most methane were in
the drilling phase, a period that has not been known for high emissions.
Experts had thought that methane was more likely to be released during
subsequent phases of production, including hydraulic fracturing, well
completion or transport through pipelines.

The airborne readings were a snapshot over two days, Shepson cautioned, and
further research over a longer period and at other sites are needed to know
whether the Pennsylvania measurements are typical.

Much of the natural gas drilling in southwestern Pennsylvania goes through
coal beds, which contain methane that might be leaking out, according to
the study. The researchers speculated that underbalanced drilling methods —
in which the pressure in the well-bore is lower than the surrounding
geology — allows fluids and gases to enter the well-bore and travel to the
surface. Energy producers use underbalanced drilling because it allows them
to capture valuable supplies of ethane and butane, Shepson said.

The disparity between the researchers’ measurements and the EPA’s data
illustrates the limits of the methods used by regulators, Shepson said. The
EPA’s approach puts regulators at the mercy of energy companies, which
control access to the wells, pipelines, processing plants and compressor
stations where methane measurements should be made.

“It’s tough,” Shepson said.

Last year, researchers from Stanford, Harvard and elsewhere reported in
PNAS that methane emissions in the continental U.S. might be 50%
greater<http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-methane-emissions-higher-than-estimated-epa-20131127,0,320051.story>than
the EPA's official estimates. Another study by Stanford researchers,
published in February in the journal Science, also concluded that the EPA
underestimates methane
leakage<http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-methane-leaks-20140213,0,359951.story>from
the natural gas industry and other sources.

*[Updated 10 a.m. PDT, April 15:* The EPA said it was aware that
non-government scientists had come to “different conclusions about the
level of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.” Some of those
estimates are higher than the EPA’s and some are lower, the agency said in
a statement.

A slew of new data about methane and drilling is expected over the next few
years, and EPA officials will be reviewing all of it and updating its
emissions estimates as necessary, according to the statement.*]*

The new study comes two weeks after the White House ordered the EPA to
identify ways to cut methane from oil and gas production. If the agency
decides to issue new rules, they must be in place by the end of 2016.

In February, Colorado became the first state to regulate methane emissions
from the oil and gas sector, requiring the industry to detect and fix leaks
and install equipment to capture 95% of methane emissions. Last week, Ohio
adopted rules to get companies to reduce methane leakage from above-ground
equipment used in natural gas development, like valves and pipelines. Those
rules do not appear to address leaks during drilling.
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