Temporal variability largely explains top-down/bottom-up difference in methane emission estimates from a natural gas production region
Abstract
Here, this study spatially and temporally aligns top-down and bottom-up methane emission estimates for a natural gas production basin, using multiscale emission measurements and detailed activity data reporting. We show that episodic venting from manual liquid unloadings, which occur at a small fraction of natural gas well pads, drives a factor-of-two temporal variation in the basin-scale emission rate of a US dry shale gas play. The midafternoon peak emission rate aligns with the sampling time of all regional aircraft emission studies, which target well-mixed boundary layer conditions present in the afternoon. A mechanistic understanding of emission estimates derived from various methods is critical for unbiased emission verification and effective greenhouse gas emission mitigation. Our results demonstrate that direct comparison of emission estimates from methods covering widely different timescales can be misleading.
- Authors:
-
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
- Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, Golden, CO (United States)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
- Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Program Office; Southwestern Energy; XTO Energy; USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1483064
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-6A20-70770
Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 115; Journal Issue: 46; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 03 NATURAL GAS; natural gas; methane emissions; top-down; bottom-up; spatiotemporal inventory model
Citation Formats
Vaughn, Timothy L., Bell, Clay S., Pickering, Cody K., Schwietzke, Stefan, Heath, Garvin A., Pétron, Gabrielle, Zimmerle, Daniel J., Schnell, Russell C., and Nummedal, Dag. Temporal variability largely explains top-down/bottom-up difference in methane emission estimates from a natural gas production region. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1805687115.
Vaughn, Timothy L., Bell, Clay S., Pickering, Cody K., Schwietzke, Stefan, Heath, Garvin A., Pétron, Gabrielle, Zimmerle, Daniel J., Schnell, Russell C., & Nummedal, Dag. Temporal variability largely explains top-down/bottom-up difference in methane emission estimates from a natural gas production region. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1805687115
Vaughn, Timothy L., Bell, Clay S., Pickering, Cody K., Schwietzke, Stefan, Heath, Garvin A., Pétron, Gabrielle, Zimmerle, Daniel J., Schnell, Russell C., and Nummedal, Dag. Mon .
"Temporal variability largely explains top-down/bottom-up difference in methane emission estimates from a natural gas production region". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1805687115. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1483064.
@article{osti_1483064,
title = {Temporal variability largely explains top-down/bottom-up difference in methane emission estimates from a natural gas production region},
author = {Vaughn, Timothy L. and Bell, Clay S. and Pickering, Cody K. and Schwietzke, Stefan and Heath, Garvin A. and Pétron, Gabrielle and Zimmerle, Daniel J. and Schnell, Russell C. and Nummedal, Dag},
abstractNote = {Here, this study spatially and temporally aligns top-down and bottom-up methane emission estimates for a natural gas production basin, using multiscale emission measurements and detailed activity data reporting. We show that episodic venting from manual liquid unloadings, which occur at a small fraction of natural gas well pads, drives a factor-of-two temporal variation in the basin-scale emission rate of a US dry shale gas play. The midafternoon peak emission rate aligns with the sampling time of all regional aircraft emission studies, which target well-mixed boundary layer conditions present in the afternoon. A mechanistic understanding of emission estimates derived from various methods is critical for unbiased emission verification and effective greenhouse gas emission mitigation. Our results demonstrate that direct comparison of emission estimates from methods covering widely different timescales can be misleading.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1805687115},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 46,
volume = 115,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Oct 29 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Mon Oct 29 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
Web of Science
Works referenced in this record:
Anthropogenic emissions of methane in the United States
journal, November 2013
- Miller, S. M.; Wofsy, S. C.; Michalak, A. M.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, Issue 50
Anthropogenic emissions of methane in the United States
journal, November 2013
- Miller, S. M.; Wofsy, S. C.; Michalak, A. M.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, Issue 50
Comparison of methane emission estimates from multiple measurement techniques at natural gas production pads
journal, February 2017
- Bell, Clay Samuel; Vaughn, Timothy L.; Zimmerle, Daniel
- Elem Sci Anth, Vol. 5, Issue 0
Super-emitters in natural gas infrastructure are caused by abnormal process conditions
journal, January 2017
- Zavala-Araiza, Daniel; Alvarez, Ramón A.; Lyon, David R.
- Nature Communications, Vol. 8, Issue 1
Application of Gauss's theorem to quantify localized surface emissions from airborne measurements of wind and trace gases
journal, January 2017
- Conley, Stephen; Faloona, Ian; Mehrotra, Shobhit
- Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 10, Issue 9
Methane Emissions from United States Natural Gas Gathering and Processing
journal, August 2015
- Marchese, Anthony J.; Vaughn, Timothy L.; Zimmerle, Daniel J.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 17
Toward a Functional Definition of Methane Super-Emitters: Application to Natural Gas Production Sites
journal, June 2015
- Zavala-Araiza, Daniel; Lyon, David; Alvarez, Ramón A.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 13
Methane Emissions from the Natural Gas Transmission and Storage System in the United States
journal, July 2015
- Zimmerle, Daniel J.; Williams, Laurie L.; Vaughn, Timothy L.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 15
Aircraft-Based Estimate of Total Methane Emissions from the Barnett Shale Region
journal, June 2015
- Karion, Anna; Sweeney, Colm; Kort, Eric A.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 13
Methane Leaks from North American Natural Gas Systems
journal, February 2014
- Brandt, A. R.; Heath, G. A.; Kort, E. A.
- Science, Vol. 343, Issue 6172
Methane Leaks from Natural Gas Systems Follow Extreme Distributions
journal, October 2016
- Brandt, Adam R.; Heath, Garvin A.; Cooley, Daniel
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 50, Issue 22
Constructing a Spatially Resolved Methane Emission Inventory for the Barnett Shale Region
journal, June 2015
- Lyon, David R.; Zavala-Araiza, Daniel; Alvarez, Ramón A.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 13
Quantifying atmospheric methane emissions from oil and natural gas production in the Bakken shale region of North Dakota: CH
journal, May 2016
- Peischl, J.; Karion, A.; Sweeney, C.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 121, Issue 10
Improved Mechanistic Understanding of Natural Gas Methane Emissions from Spatially Resolved Aircraft Measurements
journal, June 2017
- Schwietzke, Stefan; Pétron, Gabrielle; Conley, Stephen
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 51, Issue 12
A new look at methane and nonmethane hydrocarbon emissions from oil and natural gas operations in the Colorado Denver-Julesburg Basin: Hydrocarbon emissions in oil & gas basin
journal, June 2014
- Pétron, Gabrielle; Karion, Anna; Sweeney, Colm
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 119, Issue 11
Natural gas facility methane emissions: measurements by tracer flux ratio in two US natural gas producing basins
journal, February 2017
- Yacovitch, Tara I.; Daube, Conner; Vaughn, Timothy L.
- Elem Sci Anth, Vol. 5, Issue 0
Methane Leaks from Natural Gas Systems Follow Extreme Distributions
journal, October 2016
- Brandt, Adam R.; Heath, Garvin A.; Cooley, Daniel
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 50, Issue 22
Methane emissions from natural gas production and use: reconciling bottom-up and top-down measurements
journal, August 2014
- Allen, David T.
- Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Vol. 5
Gathering pipeline methane emissions in Fayetteville shale pipelines and scoping guidelines for future pipeline measurement campaigns
journal, February 2017
- Zimmerle, Daniel J.; Pickering, Cody K.; Bell, Clay S.
- Elem Sci Anth, Vol. 5, Issue 0
Three decades of global methane sources and sinks
text, January 2013
- Ciais, Philippe; Kummel, Paul B.; Zeng, Guang
- Nature Publishing Group
Variation in Methane Emission Rates from Well Pads in Four Oil and Gas Basins with Contrasting Production Volumes and Compositions
journal, July 2017
- Robertson, Anna M.; Edie, Rachel; Snare, Dustin
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 51, Issue 15
Reconciling divergent estimates of oil and gas methane emissions
journal, December 2015
- Zavala-Araiza, Daniel; Lyon, David R.; Alvarez, Ramón A.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Greater focus needed on methane leakage from natural gas infrastructure
journal, April 2012
- Alvarez, R. A.; Pacala, S. W.; Winebrake, J. J.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 17
Methane Emissions from Process Equipment at Natural Gas Production Sites in the United States: Liquid Unloadings
journal, December 2014
- Allen, David T.; Sullivan, David W.; Zavala-Araiza, Daniel
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 1
Three decades of global methane sources and sinks
journal, September 2013
- Kirschke, Stefanie; Bousquet, Philippe; Ciais, Philippe
- Nature Geoscience, Vol. 6, Issue 10
Spatiotemporal Variability of Methane Emissions at Oil and Natural Gas Operations in the Eagle Ford Basin
journal, July 2017
- Lavoie, Tegan N.; Shepson, Paul B.; Cambaliza, Maria O. L.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 51, Issue 14
Greater focus needed on methane leakage from natural gas infrastructure
journal, April 2012
- Alvarez, R. A.; Pacala, S. W.; Winebrake, J. J.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 17
Methane Emissions from Process Equipment at Natural Gas Production Sites in the United States: Liquid Unloadings
journal, December 2014
- Allen, David T.; Sullivan, David W.; Zavala-Araiza, Daniel
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 1
Quantifying atmospheric methane emissions from the Haynesville, Fayetteville, and northeastern Marcellus shale gas production regions: CH4 emissions from shale gas production
journal, March 2015
- Peischl, J.; Ryerson, T. B.; Aikin, K. C.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 120, Issue 5
Variation in Methane Emission Rates from Well Pads in Four Oil and Gas Basins with Contrasting Production Volumes and Compositions
journal, July 2017
- Robertson, Anna M.; Edie, Rachel; Snare, Dustin
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 51, Issue 15
Constructing a Spatially Resolved Methane Emission Inventory for the Barnett Shale Region
journal, June 2015
- Lyon, David R.; Zavala-Araiza, Daniel; Alvarez, Ramón A.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 13
Gathering pipeline methane emissions in Fayetteville shale pipelines and scoping guidelines for future pipeline measurement campaigns
journal, February 2017
- Zimmerle, Daniel J.; Pickering, Cody K.; Bell, Clay S.
- Elem Sci Anth, Vol. 5, Issue 0
Methane on the Rise--Again
journal, January 2014
- Nisbet, E. G.; Dlugokencky, E. J.; Bousquet, P.
- Science, Vol. 343, Issue 6170
Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations
journal, February 2017
- Vaughn, Timothy L.; Bell, Clay S.; Yacovitch, Tara I.
- Elem Sci Anth, Vol. 5, Issue 0
Natural gas facility methane emissions: measurements by tracer flux ratio in two US natural gas producing basins
journal, February 2017
- Yacovitch, Tara I.; Daube, Conner; Vaughn, Timothy L.
- Elem Sci Anth, Vol. 5, Issue 0
Measurements of Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Gathering Facilities and Processing Plants: Measurement Results
journal, February 2015
- Mitchell, Austin L.; Tkacik, Daniel S.; Roscioli, Joseph R.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 5
Three decades of global methane sources and sinks
journal, September 2013
- Kirschke, Stefanie; Bousquet, Philippe; Ciais, Philippe
- Nature Geoscience, Vol. 6, Issue 10
Methane emissions estimate from airborne measurements over a western United States natural gas field: CH
journal, August 2013
- Karion, Anna; Sweeney, Colm; Pétron, Gabrielle
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 16
Methane Emissions from United States Natural Gas Gathering and Processing
journal, August 2015
- Marchese, Anthony J.; Vaughn, Timothy L.; Zimmerle, Daniel J.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 17
Improved Mechanistic Understanding of Natural Gas Methane Emissions from Spatially Resolved Aircraft Measurements
journal, June 2017
- Schwietzke, Stefan; Pétron, Gabrielle; Conley, Stephen
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 51, Issue 12
Reconciling divergent estimates of oil and gas methane emissions
journal, December 2015
- Zavala-Araiza, Daniel; Lyon, David R.; Alvarez, Ramón A.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Aircraft-Based Estimate of Total Methane Emissions from the Barnett Shale Region
journal, June 2015
- Karion, Anna; Sweeney, Colm; Kort, Eric A.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 13
Methane Emissions from the Natural Gas Transmission and Storage System in the United States
journal, July 2015
- Zimmerle, Daniel J.; Williams, Laurie L.; Vaughn, Timothy L.
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 15
Works referencing / citing this record:
Quantifying methane emissions in the Uintah Basin during wintertime stagnation episodes
journal, January 2019
- Foster, C. S.; Crosman, E. T.; Horel, J. D.
- Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, Vol. 7
Ideas and perspectives: is shale gas a major driver of recent increase in global atmospheric methane?
journal, January 2019
- Howarth, Robert W.
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 16, Issue 15
Open-path cavity ring-down methane sensor for mobile monitoring of natural gas emissions
journal, January 2019
- Mchale, Laura E.; Martinez, Benjamin; Miller, Thomas W.
- Optics Express, Vol. 27, Issue 14
Machine Vision for Natural Gas Methane Emissions Detection Using an Infrared Camera
preprint, January 2019
- Wang, Jingfan; Tchapmi, Lyne P.; Ravikumara, Arvind P.
- arXiv
A review of close-range and screening technologies for mitigating fugitive methane emissions in upstream oil and gas
journal, April 2019
- Fox, Thomas A.; Barchyn, Thomas E.; Risk, David
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 5
Forward Modeling and Optimization of Methane Emissions in the South Central United States Using Aircraft Transects Across Frontal Boundaries
journal, November 2019
- Barkley, Z. R.; Davis, K. J.; Feng, S.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 22
Temporal Variations in Methane Emissions from an Unconventional Well Site
journal, February 2019
- Johnson, Derek; Heltzel, Robert; Oliver, Dakota
- ACS Omega, Vol. 4, Issue 2
Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowout
journal, December 2019
- Pandey, Sudhanshu; Gautam, Ritesh; Houweling, Sander
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 116, Issue 52
Constraining the accuracy of flux estimates using OTM 33A
journal, January 2020
- Edie, Rachel; Robertson, Anna M.; Field, Robert A.
- Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Vol. 13, Issue 1
Inversion Estimates of Lognormally Distributed Methane Emission Rates From the Haynesville‐Bossier Oil and Gas Production Region Using Airborne Measurements
journal, March 2019
- Cui, Yu Yan; Henze, Daven K.; Brioude, Jerome
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 124, Issue 6