Most of methane hot spot comes from natural gas leaks

According to a new study from NASA, natural gas production facilities appear to be to blame for a high concentration of methane in the Four Corners region.

This undated handout image provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of MI, shows the Four Corners area, in red, left, the major USA hot spot for methane emissions in this digital map, showing how much emissions varied from average background concentrations from 2003-2009.

“The first of several studies, NASA’s assessment begins the process of better understanding methane levels in the region, but it addressed a limited set of methane sources”, said Steve Henke, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. Researchers say only a handful were natural seeps from underground formations.

The paper is called “Airborne remote measurements of fat-tail methane emitters in the Four Corners region”.

A two-year study released by NASA on Monday confirmed suspicions that energy extraction practices are largely responsible for the methane hot spot in the Four Corners.

“Natural gas is the primary reason the United States has reduced greenhouse gas emissions more than any other country”, she said in a written statement.

Although the buildup-or hotspot-of methane over the Southwest does not represent a health issue, methane is a well-documented contributor to global warming. Methane is considered to be 86 times more powerful for trapping heat for short-term in comparison with carbon dioxide. In 2003 also, the evidence was found and satellite image released in 2014 showed the hot spots in different colors but then their origins were not clear. The new study identified sources with sensors aboard aircraft in 2015. “The method shows that you can easily fly over an area and actually see the plumes in real time”, said study co-author Eric Kort, from the University of MI. But in general, the report links the lion’s share of methane to the oil and gas industry, said Thomas Singer, senior policy advisor with the Western Environmental Law Center. To meet the goals, however, the sources of so-called fugitive methane emissions must be found. Colorado imposed its own rules in 2014.

“Quite possibly that there’s just one place or one processing plant or one well that we need to go to to solve the majority of the leaks”, he said. Emissions have spiked in recent decades amid boom in natural gas drilling.

Frankenberg said the researchers didn’t identify the operators of the leaking facilities in most cases, because they usually weren’t aware of specific locations until they were analyzing the data after the flights.

Ground teams followed up the survey by visiting some of the methane sources and recording emissions using special cameras.

As natural gas makes its journey out of the ground, through pipelines to stovetops, there are leaks everywhere.

It’s rare that scientists see such immediate results, he said, “and it was a very gratifying experience”.