A125-05
Methane point-source emissions from oil, gas, and coal operations
Friday, 11 December 2020: 07:16
Virtual
Riley M Duren1, Andrew K Thorpe2, Daniel Cusworth2, Eric A Kort3, Joseph Heckler4, Winston Olson-Duvall2, Brian Bue2, Nicole Downey5, Philip E Dennison6, Gregory Asner4, Robert O Green2 and Charles E Miller2, (1)University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, (2)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (4)Arizona State University, Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, Tempe, AZ, United States, (5)Earth System Sciences, Albuquerque, NM, United States, (6)University of Utah, Geography, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Abstract:
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and is increasingly targeted for emissions mitigation by sub-national governments and energy companies. Recent field studies indicate that there is a heavy-tail distribution of methane emission sources in many economic sectors where a small fraction of infrastructure contributes disproportionately to the net emissions from those sectors. Methane point-source emitters - surface features or infrastructure components typically less than 10 meters across - offer unique opportunities for efficient mitigation. However, data on point-source emissions are sparse and typically lack sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to guide their mitigation and to accurately assess their magnitude. This is particularly true for oil, gas, and coal operations distributed over large and often remote regions.
Here we describe remote sensing surveys using airborne infrared imaging spectrometers that can efficiently detect and quantify methane point-sources and associated activity such as flaring. This approach enables the rapid and repeated assessment of large areas at high spatial resolution for a poorly characterized population of methane emitters that are often highly variable. We summarize initial findings for oil and gas production in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Utah, and California as well as coal production in Colorado and Wyoming. We describe distributions of methane point-source emissions and process attribution for these sectors using remote sensing, bottom-up facility data, and feedback from facility operators. We also assess changes in methane emissions on time scales ranging from days to months including potential responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent energy market impacts.
