Englander, J.G.; Brandt, A.R.; Conley, S.; Lyon, D.; Jackson, R.B. (2018). Aerial inter-year comparison and quantification of methane emissions persistence in the Bakken formation of North Dakota, USA. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b01665
Methane leakage from natural gas systems
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Left: A single frame of a methane leak taken using an infrared camera (top) and modeled image of the methane leak as seen above (bottom) / Right: Typical scene encountered when imaging methane leaks using an infrared camera.
Measured rates of natural gas or methane leakage include top-down (atmospheric) and bottom-up (direct) measurements. Results plotted to the right of ratio 1 imply greater methane leakage observed than expected.
Natural gas is a potential "bridge fuel" between the current (largely) fossil-based energy system and a renewable-dominated future energy system. It emits less carbon dioxide during combustion than other fossil fuels and can be used flexibly in many industries. Also, the use of gas turbines may allow flexible grid response in high renewable fraction grids.
However, because of the high global warming potential (GWP) of methane, leakage from natural gas systems can have large impacts on the climate impacts of gas use. Our research agenda in natural gas systems has two key goals:
1. Improve our understanding of the rates and locations of natural gas leakage through systematic synthesis and comparison of research on gas leakage at all scales.
2. Improve leakage detection technology by applying state-of-the-art detection and computational analysis tools to find large leaks of gas in a low-cost fashion.
Supporting information
Supporting calculations: Worksheet v62 as published [xlsx].
PUBLICATIONS
2018
R.A. Alvarez, D. Zavala-Araiza, D.R. Lyon, D.T. Allen, Z.R. Barkley, A.R. Brandt, K.J. Davis, S.C. Herndon, D.J. Jacob, A. Karion, E.A. Kort, B.K. Lamb, T. Lauvaux, J.D. Maasakkers, A.J. Marchese, M. Omara, S.W. Pacala, J. Peischl, A.L. Robinson, P.B. Shepson, C. Sweeney, A. Townsend-Small, S.C. Wofsy, S.P. Hamburg. Assessment of methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas supply chain. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.aar7204
*Ravikumar, A.P., J. Wang, M. McGuire, C. Bell, D. Zimmerle, A.R. Brandt. “Good versus Good Enough?” Empirical tests of methane leak detection sensitivity of a commercial infrared camera. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b04945
2017
Gvakharia, A., E.A. Kort, M.L. Smith, J. Peischl, J.P. Schwarz, A.R. Brandt, T.B. Ryerson, C. Sweeney. Methane, black carbon, and ethane emissions from natural gas flares in the Bakken Shale, ND. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05183
Ravikumar, A.P., A.R. Brandt. Designing better methane mitigation policies: The challenge of distributed small sources in the natural gas sector. Environmental Research Letters 12 044023
Ravikumar, A.P., Wang, J., Brandt, A.R. Are Optical Gas Imaging Technologies Effective for Methane Leak Detection? (2017) Environmental Science and Technology, 51 (1), pp. 718-724. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03906.
2016
Kort, E.A., M.L. Smith, L.T. Murray, A. Gvakharia, A.R. Brandt, J. Peischl, T.B. Ryerson, C. Sweeney, K. Travis. Fugitive emissions from the Bakken shale illustrate role of shale production in global ethane shift. Geophysical research letters. DOI: 10.1002/2016GL068703
Lyon, D.R., R.A. Alvarez, D. Zavala-Araiza, A.R. Brandt, R.B. Jackson, S.P. Hamburg. Aerial surveys of elevated hydrocarbon emissions from oil and gas production sites. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b00705
Peischl, J. A. Karion, C. Sweeney, E. A. Kort, M. L. Smith, A.R. Brandt, T. Yeskoo, K.C. Aikin, S.A. Conley, M. Trainer, S. Wolter, and T.B. Ryerson. Quantifying atmospheric methane emissions from oil and natural gas production in the Bakken shale region of North Dakota. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres. DOI: 10.1002/2015JD024631
*Ravikumar, A.P., J. Wang, A.R. Brandt. Are optical gas imaging technologies effective for methane leak detection? Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03906
2014
Brandt A.R., Heath, G.A., Kort, E.A., O'Sullivan, F., Petron, G., Jordaan, S.M., Tans, P., Wilcox, J., Gopstein, A.M., Arent, D., Brown, N.J., Bradley, R., Stucky, G.D., Eardley, D., Harriss, R. (2014). Methane Leaks from North American Natural Gas Systems. Science (343) 733-735. DOI:10.1126/science.1247045
