Methane emissions estimate from airborne measurements over a western United States natural gas field

Methane (CH4) emissions from natural gas production are not well quantified and have the potential to offset the climate benefits of natural gas over other fossil fuels. We use atmospheric measurements in a mass balance approach to estimate CH4 emissions of 55 ± 15 × 103 kg h−1 from a natural gas an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2013-08, Vol.40 (16), p.4393-4397
Main Authors: Karion, Anna, Sweeney, Colm, Pétron, Gabrielle, Frost, Gregory, Michael Hardesty, R., Kofler, Jonathan, Miller, Ben R., Newberger, Tim, Wolter, Sonja, Banta, Robert, Brewer, Alan, Dlugokencky, Ed, Lang, Patricia, Montzka, Stephen A., Schnell, Russell, Tans, Pieter, Trainer, Michael, Zamora, Robert, Conley, Stephen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospherics
Climate
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Emission analysis
Emissions
Estimates
Exact sciences and technology
Methane
Natural gas
Petroleum industry
Stockpiling
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Summary:Methane (CH4) emissions from natural gas production are not well quantified and have the potential to offset the climate benefits of natural gas over other fossil fuels. We use atmospheric measurements in a mass balance approach to estimate CH4 emissions of 55 ± 15 × 103 kg h−1 from a natural gas and oil production field in Uintah County, Utah, on 1 day: 3 February 2012. This emission rate corresponds to 6.2%–11.7% (1σ) of average hourly natural gas production in Uintah County in the month of February. This study demonstrates the mass balance technique as a valuable tool for estimating emissions from oil and gas production regions and illustrates the need for further atmospheric measurements to determine the representativeness of our single‐day estimate and to better assess inventories of CH4 emissions. Key Points A mass balance is used to estimate a methane leak rate from a natural gas field. Single day methane emissions are excessive relative to average production.
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1002/grl.50811