The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has set aside up to $30 million to develop technologies that would convert the wasted natural gas that is flared and vented at production sites into sustainable fuels and chemicals. 

emissions

“The United States relies heavily on domestic natural gas for residential, commercial and industrial energy use,” DOE officials said. “Yet each year, billions of cubic feet of natural gas are wasted through flaring and venting, which is the burning of underutilized natural gas at an oil production site using a dedicated flare to ignite the methane and other components in the gas.”

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas (GHG), accounting for 20% of emissions. These emissions can be caused from...