Carbon footprint of global natural gas supplies to China

Journal Article · 11 February 2020 · Nature Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14606-4 · OSTI ID:1607379

Gan, Yu  ^[1]; El-Houjeiri, Hassan M. ^[2]; Badahdah, Alhassan ^[2]; Lu, Zifeng ^[1]; Cai, Hao ^[1]; Przesmitzki, Steven ^[2]; Wang, Michael ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
2. Aramco Services Company, Novi, MI (United States). Aramco Research Center-Detroit

As natural gas demand surges in China, driven by the coal-to-gas switching policy, widespread attention is focused on its impacts on global gas supply-demand rebalance and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Here, for the first time, we estimate well-to-city-gate GHG emissions of gas supplies for China, based on analyses of field-specific characteristics of 104 fields in 15 countries. Results show GHG intensities of supplies from 104 fields vary from 6.2 to 43.3 g CO₂eq MJ^-1. Due to the increase of GHG-intensive gas supplies from Russia, Central Asia, and domestic shale gas fields, the supply-energy-weighted average GHG intensity is projected to increase from 21.7 in 2016 to 23.3 CO₂eq MJ^-1 in 2030, and total well-to-city-gate emissions of gas supplies are estimated to grow by ~3 times. While securing gas supply is a top priority for the Chinese government, decreasing GHG intensity should be considered in meeting its commitment to emission reductions.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Aramco Services Company, Novi, MI (United States); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1607379
• Journal Information: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 11; ISSN 2041-1723
• Publisher: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English