Emissions

Despite an increasing number of policies worldwide designed to reduce the effects of climate change, global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) have risen to unprecedented levels and grew faster between 2000 and 2010 than in each of the three previous decades, according to members of a science panel that works under the United Nations (UN).

Tuesday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released for public review five technical papers on the sources of methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in the oil and natural gas industry.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has released new data from 2012 that shows emissions from the state's natural gas industry remained largely flat compared to 2011 when less development was happening in the Marcellus Shale.

The White House on Friday released its much-anticipated methane strategy, outlining steps and a timetable for reducing methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector and other sources. The timetable runs through the remainder of the Obama administration.

With the energy sector and methane squarely in the sights of state regulators, California is on track to meet its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets by 2020, and it is revising plans to set more challenging reduction targets for 2030, state officials said earlier this month. The goal is to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Methane (CH4) emissions from natural gas systems in the United States totaled 127.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (COe) in 2012, a 2.4% decrease compared with 130.3 million metric tons in 2011 and a 16.9% decrease compared with 1990 emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Methane (CH4) emissions from natural gas systems in the United States totaled 127.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (COe) in 2012, a 2.4% decrease compared with 130.3 million metric tons in 2011 and a 16.9% decrease compared with 1990 emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A review of 20 years of technical literature on natural gas emissions in the United States and Canada found that methane (CH4) emissions appear significantly larger than official estimates, but they are not enough to negate the benefits of switching from coal power generation to natural gas-fired power.

While much of the focus of the booming natural gas market is drilling, production and new pipelines, in the background is a drive to speed up repair and replacement of older lines that are straining under new, heavier loads.