How Clean Is Natural Gas?

However, “The drilling and extraction of natural gas from wells and its transportation in pipelines results in the leakage of methane, primary component of natural gas that is 34 times stronger than CO2 at trapping heat over a 100-year period and 86 times stronger over 20 years.”

It is this methane that mars natural gas’s reputation as a clean fuel and it has been garnering growing attention from regulators and the media, as well as from the energy industry.

Some oil companies have taken it upon themselves to monitor and report methane leaks, and others in the energy field have been working on methane storage and use for electricity generation. Yet this may be far from enough to deal with the leakage problem.

A new study from the MIT, published earlier this week, describes the problem succinctly. Related: US Proved Oil & Gas Reserves Hit New Record High

Despite its reputation as a “bridge fuel”, “methane is itself a potent greenhouse gas, and it currently leaks from production wells, storage tanks, pipelines, and urban distribution pipes for natural gas. Increasing its usage, as a strategy for decarbonizing the electricity supply, will also increase the potential for such “fugitive” methane emissions, although there is great uncertainty about how much to expect.”

Satellite imaging is one way of tackling the problem. It just helped to uncover the full extent of ethane damage done by an Exxon well blowout in 2018. But tracking methane leaks can only go as far as generating data about the extent of the emissions problem. It cannot solve it, so forecasts see emissions rising again this year, for the third year in a row.

The silver lining: this increase will slow down.

"It’s hard to view slower growth as good news. But nonetheless, compared to last year and 2017 the growth rate was down substantially. What we need is for emissions to decline, not to rise slowly," the GCP’s Rob Jackson told CNN earlier this month following the release of the organization’s latest report.

The only way to do this, however, would be to enact a lot stricter emissions legislation everywhere. This would be a challenging undertaking if the latest UN climate change talks are any indication. After 12 days of discussions, the delegates at this top climate change summit failed to agree on even a rule book for the Paris Agreement, including the creation of an international market for carbon permits and compensation for the countries most affected by climate change. It looks like any decisive action on methane emissions—and natural gas use—will have to wait, too.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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