GHGfrack: Greenhouse gas impacts from drilling and hydraulic fracturing
Main content start
GHGfrack is an open-source engineering-based model to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations. The model implements drilling engineering methods to estimate the energy used in circulating drilling fluids, rotating the drill string, and pumping hydraulic fracturing fluids. This allows detailed estimates of the emissions from fuel use and combustion on a drill site.
Model and documentation
Open-source model code [xlsx]
Model documentation [pdf]
Publications
2016
Vafi, K., Brandt, A. GHGfrack: An open-source model for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from combustion of fuel in drilling and hydraulic fracturing (2016) Environmental Science and Technology, 50 (14), pp. 7913-7920.
Site content
- Neutel, J, A Berson, S Saltzer, A Brandt, J Weyant, F Orr, and S Benson. “What Will It Take to Get to Net-Zero Emissions in California?”, Energy Policy, 208 (January 1, 2026): 114848. https://doi.org/j.enpol.2025.114848.
- Fan, Y, M Masnadi, L Jing, B Ren, and A Brandt. “The Pyxis Project: A Geospatial Data System for Emission Estimation Monitoring in the Oil and Gas Industry”, Energy and AI, 22 (December 1, 2025): 100601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyai.2025.100601.
- Burdeau, P, E Sherwin, S Biraud, E Berman, and A Brandt. “High-Resolution National Mapping of Natural Gas Composition Substantially Updates Methane Leakage Impacts”, Nature Communications, November 21, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66465-6.
- Sodwatana, M, D Saad, M Ahumada-Paras, and A Brandt. “Appliance Decarbonization and Its Impacts on California’s Energy Transition”, Applied Energy, 390 (July 15, 2025): 125769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.125769.
- Long, W, A Brandt, T Demayo, and L Verduzco. “Technical Validation of Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimator Using Field Data from Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery Operations”, Energy & Fuels, May 7, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5c00079.
- Chen, Z, R Zhong, W Long, H Tang, A Wang, Z Liu, X Yang, B Ren, J Littlefield, S Koyejo, M Masnadi, and A Brandt. “Advancing Oil and Gas Emissions Assessment through Large Language Model Data Extraction”, Energy and AI, 20 (May 1, 2025): 100481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyai.2025.100481.
- Saad, D, M Sodwatana, E Sherwin, and A Brandt. “Energy Storage in Combined Gas-Electric Energy Transitions Models: The Case of California”, Applied Energy, 385 (May 1, 2025): 125480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.125480.
- Aljubran, M, D Saad, M Sodwatana, A Brandt, and R Horne. “The Value of Enhanced Geothermal Systems for the Energy Transition in California”, Sustainable Energy & Fuels, February 3, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SE01520G.
- Mukherjee, M, J Littlefield, H Khutal, K Kirchner-Ortiz, K Davis, L Jing, F Ramadan, H El-Houjeiri, M Masnadi, and A Brandt. “Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the US Liquefied Natural Gas Operations and Shipping through Process Model Based Life Cycle Assessment”, Communications Earth & Environment, 6, no. 1 (January 19, 2025): 16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01988-2.
- Sodwatana, M, S Kazi, K Sundar, A Brandt, and A Zlotnik. “Locational Marginal Pricing of Energy in Pipeline Transport of Natural Gas and Hydrogen With Carbon Offset Incentives”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 96 (December 27, 2024): 574-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.11.191.
- Nie, Y, Q Paletta, A Scott, L Pomares, G Arbod, S Sgouridis, J Lasenby, and A Brandt. “Sky Image-Based Solar Forecasting Using Deep Learning With Heterogeneous Multi-Location Data: Dataset Fusion Versus Transfer Learning”, Applied Energy, 369 (September 1, 2024): 123467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123467.
- Nie, Y, E Zelikman, A Scott, Q Paletta, and A Brandt. “SkyGPT: Probabilistic Ultra-Short-Term Solar Forecasting Using Synthetic Sky Images from Physics-Constrained VideoGPT”, Advances in Applied Energy, 14 (July 15, 2024): 100172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adapen.2024.100172.
- Chen, Z, S El Abbadi, E Sherwin, P Burdeau, J Rutherford, Y Chen, Z Zhang, and A Brandt. “Comparing Continuous Methane Monitoring Technologies for High-Volume Emissions: A Single-Blind Controlled Release Study”, ACS ES&T Air, 1, no. 8 (June 4, 2024): 871-84. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestair.4c00015.
- Negron, A, E Kort, G Plant, A Brandt, Y Chen, C Hausman, and M Smith. “Measurement-Based Carbon Intensity of US Offshore Oil and Gas Production”, Environmental Research Letters, 19, no. 6 (May 28, 2024): 064027. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad489d.
- El Abbadi, S, Z Chen, P Burdeau, J Rutherford, Y Chen, Z Zhang, E Sherwin, and A Brandt. “Technological Maturity of Aircraft-Based Methane Sensing for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation”, Environmental Science & Technology, 58, no. 22 (May 17, 2024). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c02439.
- Sherwin, E, J Rutherford, Z Zhang, Y Chen, E Wetherley, P Yakovlev, E Berman, B Jones, D Cusworth, A Thorpe, A Ayasse, R Duren, and A Brandt. “US Oil and Gas System Emissions from Nearly One Million Aerial Site Measurements”, Nature, 627, no. 8003 (March 13, 2024): 328-34. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07117-5.
- Shin, L, A Brandt, D Iancu, K Mach, C Field, M-J Cho, M Ng, K Chey, N Ram, T Robinson, and B Reeves. “Climate Impacts of Digital Use Supply Chains”, Environmental Research: Climate, 3, no. 1 (March 5, 2024): 015009. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5295/ad22eb.
- Wang, J, B Barlow, W Funk, C Robinson, A Brandt, and A Ravikumar. “Large-Scale Controlled Experiment Demonstrates Effectiveness of Methane Leak Detection and Repair Programs at Oil and Gas Facilities”, Environmental Science & Technology, 58, no. 7 (February 5, 2024). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c09147.
- Nie, Y, X Li, Q Paletta, M Aragon, A Scott, and A Brandt. “Open-Source Sky Image Datasets for Solar Forecasting With Deep Learning: A Comprehensive Survey”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 189 (January 15, 2024): 113977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113977.
- Sherwin, Evan, Jeffrey Rutherford, Yuanlei Chen, Sam Aminfard, Eric Kort, Robert Jackson, and Adam Brandt. “Single-Blind Validation of Space-Based Point-Source Detection and Quantification of Onshore Methane Emissions”, Scientific Reports, 13 (March 7, 2023): 3836. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30761-2.