There has been a lot of talk about methane recently. And it is happening all over the planet. Last Tuesday, there was a plenary at COP29 on “Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases.” But that is not what I want to write about today. I want to write about what’s happening with methane in Texas and in outer space.
For the past two Thursdays and again this Thursday, the TCEQ has been having stakeholder meetings on the implementation of the new EPA rules and standards to limit pollution from the oil and gas industry. These new rules will address two of the largest sources of pollution in the oil and gas industry. They will require leak monitoring at existing and new well sites and a phase-out of intentionally emitting devices widely used across the industry. The rules include a program to quickly address the largest leaks and malfunctions—known as super-emitters—and improve steps to curtail wasteful flaring (burning off excess gas).
The first meeting was in Austin. It was supposedly in person and virtual, but the virtual aspect was plagued with technical difficuties and many attendees were either unable to attend or were cut off during the meeting. The second meeting was in Arlington and was in person only. The final meeting will be in Midland and is in person only, also.
I attended the Arlington meeting and testified on behalf of Texas Impact/TXIPL as well as the faith community in general. There were over 40 other persons attending, many representing Liveable Arlington, a local group that seeks to limit fracking and the emissions of harmful methane in the city of Arlington. Arlington alone has 400 gas wells at 50 drill sites affecting almost 400,000 residents. One million people in Tarrant County live less than ½ mile from a gas well, the second largest county for urban fracking in the U.S. More than 30,000 children attend schools or daycares within ½ mile of a gas well, and two-thirds of these gas wells are located in East Arlington, mostly affecting low-income families and children of color.
The consensus of all those testifying was that we need comprehensive rules that reduce emissions at all oil and gas sites and a state plan that is at least as protective as the federal standards. Texas needs an implementation plan that covers all wells regardless of age or production volumes. Nationwide, low-producing wells are responsible for about half of the wellsite methane pollution from the oil and gas industry despite producing a relatively small amount of energy resources. We cannot let these wells and operators off the hook. Speedy adoption and significant enforcement by the TCEQ is essential to protecting the climate and the health of environmental justice communities, oil and gas workers, and those living on the frontline of extraction in Texas.
In addition to the health benefits of strict enforcement of the new EPA methane rules, several people testified that strong methane regulation will reduce energy waste and keep American energy competitive in a global market increasingly demanding lower carbon products. We also learned that the new methane rules will create jobs by encouraging the development and deployment of innovative methane detection and mitigation technologies. To that end, an analysis by the BlueGreen Alliance found over 10,000 net direct and indirect jobs will be created annually by efforts to reduce methane in the oil and gas sector through 2035. So, it makes economic sense to implement and enforce strict methane limits in Texas.
From outer space comes this news. The newly launched MethaneSAT, a methane imaging satellite developed by a dedicated subsidiary of the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund with support from key mission partners including the Bezos Earth Fund, the Audacious Project, the Government of New Zealand and many others is now functional and sending imaages back to earth. The first fully processed images from MethaneSAT showcase the satellite’s groundbreaking ability to produce high precision, high resolution quantitative data on methane emissions over vast oil and gas fields, including total emissions from smaller, dispersed sources invisible to other satellites. It will be invaluable in enforcing new methane regulations.
The observations across Appalachian, Permian and Uinta basins in the US; the Amu Darya and South Caspian basins in Turkmenistan; and the Maturin basin in Venezuela suggest that emissions in North American and Central Asian production basins are significantly higher than currently reported in existing inventories: Based on gross gas production, the loss rate (or emissions intensity) of 1.8% to 2.9% observed in the Permian basin in these preliminary measurements is at least nine times higher than the 2030 target loss rate of 0.2% promised under the industry’s public commitments. These snapshots provide a clear sense of the scale of the problem. Total oil and gas methane emissions observed range from roughly 50 tonnes per hour in the Uinta to 280 tonnes per hour in the Permian, and up to 420 tonnes per hour in the South Caspian basin.
These new observations demonstrate the strengths of MethaneSAT in detecting emissions in between clouds across wide regions, due to the satellite’s unique combination of wide swath, high precision and high spatial-resolution measurements. This capability fills a major gap in existing regional data because large portions of the information collected by other satellites is discarded due to even modest cloud cover.
MethaneSAT will provide even richer insights as data collection continues over time and across additional geographies. Once the MethaneSAT data platform is providing data at full capacity in early 2025, stakeholders will be able for the first time to systematically compare performance over time as well as by geography across all major oil and gas producing regions worldwide. MethaneSAT will also work synergistically with other global mapping and point source focused satellites. This set of initial observations made by MethaneSAT are consistent with independent empirical data where available from other sources. Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas. Emissions from fossil fuel operations, agriculture and other activities are responsible for nearly a third of today’s warming.
Data from the satellite will help companies and countries reduce emissions faster while enabling gas importers, investors and the public to compare emissions performance of production basins worldwide. It also offers a valuable way to track progress toward industry commitments like the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter established last year at COP28 in Dubai.
“This groundbreaking technology empowers oil and gas producers to eliminate methane leaks and to play an important and essential role as part of the solution,” said Sir Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund. “We are proud to be an active partner in this initiative.” It also will be possible for regulatory agencies such as the EPA and TCEQ to effectively monitor emissions and enforce regulations going forward.
So, real time monitoring of methane emissions is becoming a reality. That’s good news for Texans and for the environment.