The future of methane management

摘要

Several opportunities exist to reduce GHG emissions in production operations. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks" report, methane accounts for about 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Of this, one-quarter is from the natural gas industry. Expressed as a percent of natural gas production, this equates to 1.3% of production. While other studies have suggested much higher emission levels (some as high as 7.9%), the most recent and most comprehensive non-EPA study found emissions only slightly higher at 1.7% (the paper tabulates emissions for both oil and natural gas systems at 2.3% of gas production. ICF estimates that the natural gas portion equates to 1.7% of emissions).