3 ms·

Methane leaks from oil and gas industry are 70% higher than estimated

67 points by voisin 3y ago

mturmon 3y ago
Original paper: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2217900120 https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2217900120 One source of this information is space based measurements of methane concentrations, which can be inverted to find emissions. The concentrations are in turn inferred from spectroscopic analysis of reflected light. Some context: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33427748 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33427748 Interestingly, OP finds that methane “intensity” (ratio of methane escaping to methane extracted) is decreasing over time.
mech765 3y ago
I worked on a project where we tried to get the packing seal in the stem of a valve to pass a test certifying that it had a low leakage rate (fugitive emissions testing). We used the highest grade seal and followed all design recommendations from the seal manufacturer. Still never passed.
mech765 3y ago
I worked on a project where we tried to get the packing seal in the stem of a valve to pass a test certifying that it had a low leakage rate (fugitive emissions testing) for natural gas applications. We used the highest grade seal and followed all design recommendations from the seal manufacturer. Still never passed.
- fuzzfactor 3y ago
  Leakage like this was never a consideration before the price of oil skyrocketed in the 1970's. The valves you were working on were designed back then using more advanced technology than ever. Once the price of oil shot up and stayed, the loss of still-relatively-cheap gas didn't seem so bad after all. They were raking in the bucks on the oil itself like never before. So will not fix.
bjoli 3y ago
Cooking ourselves with gas [0], I suppose. On A more serious note: hasn't there been news like this a couple of times before? [0]: https://youtu.be/FJRQo5aawho https://youtu.be/FJRQo5aawho
- bjoli 3y ago
  I went ahead to find a prior news of this and found a couple https://news.stanford.edu/2022/03/24/methane-leaks-much-worse-estimates-fix-available/ https://news.stanford.edu/2022/03/24/methane-leaks-much-wors... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/climate/methane-leaks.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/climate/methane-leaks.htm... https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/october/satellite-data-shows-us-methane-hot-spot-bigger-than-expected/ https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/october/satellite-data-shows... Why are the expectations still so low?

67 points by voisin 3y ago

Original paper: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2217900120 https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2217900120 One source of this information is space based measurements of methane concentrations, which can be inverted to find emissions. The concentrations are in turn inferred from spectroscopic analysis of reflected light. Some context: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33427748 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33427748 Interestingly, OP finds that methane “intensity” (ratio of methane escaping to methane extracted) is decreasing over time.

mech765 3y ago

I worked on a project where we tried to get the packing seal in the stem of a valve to pass a test certifying that it had a low leakage rate (fugitive emissions testing). We used the highest grade seal and followed all design recommendations from the seal manufacturer. Still never passed.

mech765 3y ago

I worked on a project where we tried to get the packing seal in the stem of a valve to pass a test certifying that it had a low leakage rate (fugitive emissions testing) for natural gas applications. We used the highest grade seal and followed all design recommendations from the seal manufacturer. Still never passed.

fuzzfactor 3y ago
Leakage like this was never a consideration before the price of oil skyrocketed in the 1970's. The valves you were working on were designed back then using more advanced technology than ever. Once the price of oil shot up and stayed, the loss of still-relatively-cheap gas didn't seem so bad after all. They were raking in the bucks on the oil itself like never before. So will not fix.

bjoli 3y ago

Cooking ourselves with gas [0], I suppose. On A more serious note: hasn't there been news like this a couple of times before? [0]: https://youtu.be/FJRQo5aawho https://youtu.be/FJRQo5aawho

bjoli 3y ago
I went ahead to find a prior news of this and found a couple https://news.stanford.edu/2022/03/24/methane-leaks-much-worse-estimates-fix-available/ https://news.stanford.edu/2022/03/24/methane-leaks-much-wors... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/climate/methane-leaks.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/climate/methane-leaks.htm... https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/october/satellite-data-shows-us-methane-hot-spot-bigger-than-expected/ https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/october/satellite-data-shows... Why are the expectations still so low?