Long-Term Measurements Show Little Evidence for Large Increases in Total U.S. Methane Emissions Over the Past Decade
Abstract
Recent studies show conflicting estimates of trends in methane (CH4) emissions from oil and natural gas (ONG) operations in the United States. We analyze atmospheric CH4 measurements from 20 North American sites in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network and determined trends for 2006–2015. Using CH4 vertical gradients as an indicator of regional surface emissions, we find no significant increase in emissions at most sites and modest increases at three sites heavily influenced by ONG activities. Our estimated increases in North American ONG CH4 emissions (on average approximately 3.4 ± 1.4 %/year for 2006–2015, ±σ) are much smaller than estimates from some previous studies and below our detection threshold for total emissions increases at the east coast sites that are sensitive to U.S. outflows. We also find an increasing trend in ethane/methane emission ratios, which has resulted in major overestimation of oil and gas emissions trends in some previous studies.
- Authors:
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- Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1572010
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 46; Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 0094-8276
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; atmospheric composition; methane; oil and natural gas emissions
Citation Formats
Lan, Xin, Tans, Pieter, Sweeney, Colm, Andrews, Arlyn, Dlugokencky, Edward, Schwietzke, Stefan, Kofler, Jonathan, McKain, Kathryn, Thoning, Kirk, Crotwell, Molly, Montzka, Stephen, Miller, Benjamin R., and Biraud, Sébastien C. Long-Term Measurements Show Little Evidence for Large Increases in Total U.S. Methane Emissions Over the Past Decade. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1029/2018gl081731.
Lan, Xin, Tans, Pieter, Sweeney, Colm, Andrews, Arlyn, Dlugokencky, Edward, Schwietzke, Stefan, Kofler, Jonathan, McKain, Kathryn, Thoning, Kirk, Crotwell, Molly, Montzka, Stephen, Miller, Benjamin R., & Biraud, Sébastien C. Long-Term Measurements Show Little Evidence for Large Increases in Total U.S. Methane Emissions Over the Past Decade. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl081731
Lan, Xin, Tans, Pieter, Sweeney, Colm, Andrews, Arlyn, Dlugokencky, Edward, Schwietzke, Stefan, Kofler, Jonathan, McKain, Kathryn, Thoning, Kirk, Crotwell, Molly, Montzka, Stephen, Miller, Benjamin R., and Biraud, Sébastien C. Thu .
"Long-Term Measurements Show Little Evidence for Large Increases in Total U.S. Methane Emissions Over the Past Decade". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl081731. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1572010.
@article{osti_1572010,
title = {Long-Term Measurements Show Little Evidence for Large Increases in Total U.S. Methane Emissions Over the Past Decade},
author = {Lan, Xin and Tans, Pieter and Sweeney, Colm and Andrews, Arlyn and Dlugokencky, Edward and Schwietzke, Stefan and Kofler, Jonathan and McKain, Kathryn and Thoning, Kirk and Crotwell, Molly and Montzka, Stephen and Miller, Benjamin R. and Biraud, Sébastien C.},
abstractNote = {Recent studies show conflicting estimates of trends in methane (CH4) emissions from oil and natural gas (ONG) operations in the United States. We analyze atmospheric CH4 measurements from 20 North American sites in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network and determined trends for 2006–2015. Using CH4 vertical gradients as an indicator of regional surface emissions, we find no significant increase in emissions at most sites and modest increases at three sites heavily influenced by ONG activities. Our estimated increases in North American ONG CH4 emissions (on average approximately 3.4 ± 1.4 %/year for 2006–2015, ±σ) are much smaller than estimates from some previous studies and below our detection threshold for total emissions increases at the east coast sites that are sensitive to U.S. outflows. We also find an increasing trend in ethane/methane emission ratios, which has resulted in major overestimation of oil and gas emissions trends in some previous studies.},
doi = {10.1029/2018gl081731},
journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
number = 9,
volume = 46,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Thu Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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