Methane Clips: June 8, 2022

GENERAL NEWS

Oil And Gas Companies Underreport Methane Leaks, House Democrats Say. According to The Washington Post, “Big oil and gas companies are underreporting their emissions from methane leaks in the Permian Basin to the Environmental Protection Agency, says a report by Democrats on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, The Washington Post’s Steven Mufson scoops this morning. The companies’ internal data shows that their methane emissions in the Permian Basin, which extends from West Texas to New Mexico, ‘are likely significantly higher than official data,’ according to the report, which was exclusively provided to The Post ahead of a committee hearing today on detecting and quantifying methane leaks from the oil and gas sector. The report warns that ‘a small number of super-emitting leaks’ appear to account for ‘a very significant proportion’ of overall emissions of methane, a potent planet-warming gas. For instance, a single leak experienced by one oil company may have accounted for more than 80 percent of the methane emissions that company reported to the EPA from its Permian production in 2020. The report was written by the committee’s Democratic staff using materials requested by Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (Tex.) in a December letter to the chief executives of 10 fossil fuel firms. The letter came weeks after more than 100 countries signed the Global Methane Pledge, which calls for reducing methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030, at the COP26 climate summit in Scotland. ‘The United States cannot achieve its targeted reduction in methane emissions under the Global Methane Pledge without a swift and large-scale decline in oil and gas sector methane leaks,’ Johnson wrote in the letter. ‘The existence of these leaks, as well as continued uncertainty regarding their size, duration, and frequency, threatens America’s ability to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.’” [Washington Post, 6/8/22 (=)]

California Says Methane-Spotting Flights Are Helping Stop Leaks. According to Reuters, “Airborne surveys of methane plumes spewing from landfills, power plants and oil fields in California have lead to palpable reductions in leaks of the potent greenhouse gas, the state's air regulator and a non-profit group said on Wednesday. Between 2017 and 2021, 44 California facilities voluntarily repaired methane leaks after they were notified about them as part of a pilot research program that used specially-equipped aircraft to detect and measure methane being released into the atmosphere. The results of the study are a sign that one of the first in a growing number of efforts to deploy space-age technology to locate big sources of methane, an odorless colorless gas, is succeeding. The fixes prevented the equivalent of 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from escaping into the atmosphere, the two groups said in a statement, which is equal to taking about 250,000 cars off the road for a year. The reductions were verified with follow-up observations.” [Reuters, 6/8/22 (=)]

Global Gas Build-Out Threatens Climate Targets — Report. According to E&E News, “The rush to build natural gas infrastructure in response to soaring energy prices and Russia's war in Ukraine threatens global climate targets, according to a new analysis. Rather than use the energy crunch to move away from fossil fuels, governments are investing largely in short-term energy needs that could hurt their efforts to decarbonize, researchers with Climate Action Tracker said in a report released today. ‘We’re about to witness a global ‘gold rush’ for new fossil gas production, pipelines and LNG facilities,’ Niklas Höhne of NewClimate Institute, which co-wrote the analysis, said in a statement. In the European Union, where a scramble for non-Russian energy is especially acute, newly planned liquefied natural gas terminals and other import infrastructure in places such as Germany, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands could supply nearly 25 percent more gas to the bloc. Those moves come as the United States, Qatar and Egypt are sending more LNG to the European Union, and as gas-rich countries in Africa are being encouraged to boost exports. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed interest in pursuing gas projects in Senegal, which does not currently export the fuel, Reuters reported. ‘Europe’s scramble for LNG risks creating new and unsustainable economic dependency — or exacerbates existing ones,’ the analysis states.” [E&E News, 6/8/22 (=)]