On July 10, MethaneSAT, a subsidiary of the Environmental Defense Fund, announced it has successfully tested methane detection technology to be used to measure and track methane emissions from oil and gas operators and other sectors across North America.

The technology was tested in a jet aircraft and will later be deployed aboard a satellite launching in early 2024.

[Note: DEP has funded a methane overflight research study of its own to help identify methane emissions from oil and gas, coal mines and landfills.  Read more here.  Read more here.]

Methane from fossil fuel operations, agriculture, and other industries causes roughly 30% of today’s global warming, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. Cutting these emissions is the fastest way to slow the rate of warming, while we continue the transition to cleaner energy sources.

Data from MethaneAIR will provide detailed methane emissions data from a region of the world that supplies significant amounts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union.

In 2022, Europe became the primary destination for U.S. LNG natural gas exports with an all-time high of 420 million cubic meters per day.

Aircraft measurements will inform and augment orbital data collection by MethaneSAT, a new satellite now in final testing and scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early next year.

Data from both instruments will be available at no cost, enabling stakeholders worldwide to see and compare the results over time. 

Operating from local airports, flights will map and quantify emissions encompassing roughly 80% of U.S. onshore production.

As the world’s largest importer of natural gas, it is vital that the EU takes leadership in global action to reduce methane pollution by tackling emissions from imported fossil fuels, said the Environmental Defense Fund. 

New measurement-based data from MethaneAIR, MethaneSAT and other instruments will facilitate faster action to cut oil and gas methane emissions not just within the EU but beyond its borders.

Most methane emissions associated with EU gas imports occur before they reach the EU.

The upstream ‘methane footprint’ is estimated to be up to eight times the emissions from the domestic EU supply chain.

“This data will enable and motivate action,” said Flavia Sollazzo, Senior Director of Energy Transition at Environmental Defense Fund Europe. “For fossil fuel importers like the European Union, this new level of transparency will catalyse methane mitigation through more informed buying decisions and the ability to track progress towards the EU’s climate goals.”

According to the International Energy Agency, the spending required to cut methane emissions in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario is less than 2% of the net income received by the industry in 2022 globally. 

“We have the technology and solutions to cut methane today. Data from these new instruments will tell us where emissions are coming from, how much is being emitted, and how emissions are changing over time. This will be a game changer,” said Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Senior Scientist at Environmental Defense Fund, which created the MethaneSAT mission in 2018.

Highly sensitive imaging spectrometers of MethaneAIR and MethaneSAT will measure methane in the atmosphere with unparalleled sensitivity, making it possible for the first time to determine total methane emissions over wide areas, including detailed maps of both large sources and countless smaller ones down to three parts per billion. 

Automated analytics developed by MethaneSAT will track emissions back to their source. Research suggests these diffuse sources account for a large share of total methane emissions. 

Measurements from MethaneAIR will start to become available later this summer after a rigorous quality control process.

Like MethaneSAT, MethaneAIR will also measure emissions from agriculture, landfills and other sources.

MethaneAIR was developed jointly by MethaneSAT, Environmental Defense Fund, Harvard University and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The leased aircraft was adapted and operated by IO Aerospace.

As it does across its global operations, Environmental Defense Fund will determine the greenhouse gas emissions associated with each flight, offsetting them through private sector investment in high-integrity emission reduction projects. 

Visit the MethaneSAT website for more information.  [PaEN]

(Photo: Map of methane emissions from coal mine and shale gas well from DEP overflight study.)

Related Articles - Methane Monitoring:

-- Bay Journal: Satellites, Drones, Special Cameras Join The Fight Against Methane/VOC Pollution From Oil/Gas Wells, Petrochemical Plants, Landfills, Coal Mines In Pennsylvania   [PaEN]

-- DEP Methane Overflight Research Study Resulted In Voluntary Reductions In Oil & Gas, Landfill Facilities; Coal Industry Uncooperative  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Proposed Air Quality General Permit For Coal-Mine Methane Enclosed Flares  [PaEN]

-- The Guardian: One Of The Worst Global Methane Leaks In 2022 Was In PA - Equitrans In Cambria County; Routine Abandonment, Non-Compliance Of Conventional Gas Wells  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Council, Environmental Health Project Sponsor Ad Campaign To Finalize Strong EPA Oil & Gas Methane Emission Limits To Protect PA's Health & Climate

-- York County-based Evangelical Environmental Network: 100,000+ Pro-Life Evangelicals Support Strong Oil & Gas Facility Methane Limits

-- Zefiro Methane Corp. Acquires PA-Based Plants & Goodwin Well Plugging Firm To Create Methane Emission Offsets

-- Harrisburg University Research Cited By 2 Federal Agencies In New Regulations To Fight Methane Pollution From Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities

NewsClips:

-- Public News Service: Report: Oil And Gas Air Pollution Effects On Health Of Pennsylvanians 

-- TribLive: Protect PT Seeks Support For Proposed Ordinance Regulating Shale Gas Wells In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County; Meeting July 13

-- Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund: The Law Did Not Save Grant Township’s Water From PA General Energy Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well, The People Of Grant Did

-- StateImpactPA - Susan Phillips: New Sinkhole Forms [Again] Along Mariner East Natural Gas Liquids Pipeline In Chester County

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports PA Natural Gas Production Peaked In 4th Quarter 2021 [PaEN]

-- US Energy Information Administration: 2022 Appalachian Natural Gas Production Flat With Productivity Declines In Key Counties In PA

-- Bloomberg: Sweet Spot For Building New US LNG Natural Gas Projects Is Fading

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Have Biggest Weekly Loss Of The Year

-- Bloomberg: European Power Prices Fall Below Zero This Weekend With Green Power Boom 

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 8 to 14; Failed Shale Gas, Conventional Well Plugging; Leaking Conventional Wells  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - July 15  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Risk Assessment Did Not Prove Chemicals Polluting Soil & Groundwater At American Refinery Group’s Bradford Petroleum Refinery Met Safe Environmental Cleanup Standards  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On CNX Midstream Project To Expose Natural Gas, Water/Wastewater Pipelines To Prevent Longwall Coal Mining Damage In Greene County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Posted 60 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In July 15 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Secretary Negrin To Citizen Activists: ‘We Don’t Represent Chevron, We Don’t Represent Shell And I’ve Made That Absolutely Clear-- We’re Holding Those Leaders Accountable’  [PaEN]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Do Oil & Gas Drillers Owe Taxpayers Royalties For Oil & Gas Under Roads, Streets, Bridges And Other Taxpayer-Owned Land?  [PaEN]

-- EQB No Longer Has Statutory Authority To Change Conventional Oil & Gas Well Bonding Amounts To Help Prevent 400 to 600 New Well Abandonments A Year; Adopts Proposed Changes To Water Quality Standards For Comment  [PaEN]

-- PA Eligible To Apply For $76.4 Million In Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Funding To Plug Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells; Conventional Operators Still Abandoning Wells  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts Draft Final Chapter 105 Environmental Assessment Alternatives Analysis; Will Discuss At Agricultural Advisory Board Meeting July 18  [PaEN]

-- DEP Announces July 13 Local Steering Committee Meeting For $5 Million Shell Petrochemical Plant Community Fund  [PaEN]

-- DEP Reminder Of July 25 Hearing On Proposed Oil & Gas Waste Injection Well In Clara Twp., Potter County

-- MethaneSAT-EDF Successfully Test Methane Detection Technology To Be Used To Document Methane Emissions From Onshore Natural Gas Production In North America  [PaEN]

-- DEP Blog: Do You Know What’s Below? Gasoline Stations And Aging Underground Storage Tanks In Pennsylvania [PaEN]

[Posted: July 10, 2023]

7/17/2023