A Methane Leak, Seen From Space, Proves to Be Far Larger Than Thought

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by pnewell
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The first satellite designed to continuously monitor the planet for methane leaks made a startling discovery last year: A little known gas-well accident at an Ohio fracking site was in fact one of the largest methane leaks ever recorded in the United States.

The findings by a Dutch-American team of scientists, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, mark a step forward in using space technology to detect leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, from oil and gas sites worldwide.

The scientists said the new findings reinforced the view that methane releases like these, which are difficult to predict, could be far more widespread than previously thought.

“We’re entering a new era. With a single observation, a single overpass, we’re able to see plumes of methane coming from large emission sources,” said Ilse Aben, an expert in satellite remote sensing and one of the authors of the new research. “That’s something totally new that we were previously not able to do from space.”

grumpygusmcgooney on December 17th, 2019 at 20:28 UTC »

"larger than we thought"

Is actually "larger than what that company led us to believe".

phosphenes on December 17th, 2019 at 19:06 UTC »

The satellite’s measurements showed that, in Ohio in the 20 days it took for Exxon to plug the well, about 120 metric tons of methane an hour were released.

Since a metric ton of methane is equivalent to about 34 tons of CO2 over 100 years that means that this leak released an equivalent of 120 tons * 24 (hrs) * 20 (days) * 34 GWP = ~1,960,000 tons of CO2.

For context, that's about the average total annual emissions of 98,000 Americans, or 200,000 non-Americans. It's also equivalent to burning ~220,000,000 gallons of gasoline- enough for an F-150 truck to circle the globe 265,000 times. And we wouldn't even be hearing about it if it weren't for a new special satellite that can measure these leaks.

In another recent NYT report that I thought was cool, they used infrared cameras to show leaking methane at Texas wells that are otherwise invisible. Methane leaks in general are a huge problem, due in part to how poorly they're reported by the companies that have strong incentives to keep them hidden.

Sculptorman on December 17th, 2019 at 15:31 UTC »

Shouldn't they burn that so it turns to carbon which is less damaging to the environment?