Title: Using Multiscale Ethane/Methane Observations to Attribute Coal Mine Vent Emissions in the San Juan Basin From 2013 to 2021

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
ORCiD logo [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Earth and Environmental Sciences Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos NM USA
  2. Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA
  3. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USA, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory Boulder CO USA
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Abstract Source attribution of natural gas emissions from fossil fuels in New Mexico's San Juan Basin (SJB) is challenging due to source heterogeneity and emissions transience. We demonstrate that ethane (C 2 H 6 ) to methane (CH 4 ) mixing ratios can identify and separate sources over different scales using various measurement techniques. We report simultaneous CH 4 and C 2 H 6 observations near a coal mine vent and oil and gas (O&G) emission sources using ground‐based in situ measurements in 2020/2021. During these campaigns, we observed a stable coal vent C 2 H 6 :CH 4 ratio of 1.28% ± 0.11%, discernibly different than nearby O&G source ratios ranging from 0.9% to 16.8%. We analyze airborne observations of the SJB taken in 2014/2015 that exhibit similar coal vent ratios and further show the region's heterogeneity. We identify episodic O&G sources, including a gas plant source detected in 2014/2015 that is absent in our 2020/2021 data. We examine total column observations of C 2 H 6 and CH 4 made in 2013 with a solar spectrometer and find a C 2 H 6 :CH 4 ratio of 1.3% ± 0.4% for the coal vent. The stable and unique coal vent ratio relative to other O&G sources in the region is used to demonstrate that consistent attribution is possible using various measurement methods at multiple scales across many years. Finally, we demonstrate that using C 2 H 6 as a proxy for fossil CH 4 inversions can inform detailed basin‐scale inversions, provided we understand source specific changes in the C 2 H 6 :CH 4 ratio like we report in the SJB.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); University of California
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
1887908
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-22-20648; e2022JD037092
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Journal Issue: 18 Vol. 127; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Earth sciences
ethane
methane
multiscale
natural gas
ratio
source apportionment