EPA data shows sharp decline in 2013 methane emissions from hydraulically fractured wells: down 73% from 2011
01 October 2014
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its fourth year of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data, detailing greenhouse gas pollution trends and emissions from large sources and suppliers broken down by industrial sector, geographic region and individual facilities. In 2013, reported emissions from large industrial facilities were 20 million metric tons higher than the prior year, or 0.6%, driven largely by an increase in coal use for power generation.
While petroleum and natural gas systems were the second largest stationary source, their reported 224 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions represented a decrease of 1% from the previous year. Within that, reported methane emissions from the sector decreased by 12% since 2011, with the largest reductions coming from hydraulically fractured natural gas wells, which have decreased by 73% during that period, according to the data.
EPA said it expects to see further methane emission reductions as the agency’s 2012 standards for the oil and gas industry become fully implemented.
The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is the only program that collects facility-level greenhouse gas data from major industrial sources across the United States, including power plants, oil and gas production and refining, iron and steel mills and landfills. The program also collects data on the increasing production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) predominantly used in refrigeration and air conditioning.
More than 8,000 large-emitters reported direct greenhouse gas emissions to the program in 2013, representing approximately 50% of total US emissions. The data from these facilities also show that in 2013:
Carbon dioxide is the GHG emitted in the largest quantities. The 2.9 billion metric tons of CO2 reported for 2013 represent 91.4% of the GHGs reported in 2013. Methane emissions represent about 7% of reported 2013 GHG emissions, N2O represents about 0.8%, and fluorinated gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF6) represent about 0.7%.
Power plants remained the largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions, with more than 1,550 facilities emitting more than 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide—roughly 32% of total US anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Power plant emissions have declined by 9.8% since 2010, but there was an uptick in emissions of 13 million metric tons in 2013 due to an increased use of coal.
Refineries were the third largest stationary source, reporting 177 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, up 1.6% from the previous year.
Reported emissions from other large sources in the industrial and waste sectors increased by 7 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution, up 1% from 2012.
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Self reporting by operators can do wonders?
Posted by: HarveyD | 01 October 2014 at 01:37 PM