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On methane emissions from shale gas development

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  • Umeozor, Evar C.
  • Jordaan, Sarah M.
  • Gates, Ian D.

Abstract

Environmental and economic impacts of methane escaping from the natural gas supply chain remain uncertain. Flowback emissions from hydraulically fractured natural gas wells are a key component of emissions from unconventional gas wells. While reduced emission completions in the United States are required by regulation, Canada’s proposed regulation will only be implemented in 2020 with the two highest producing provinces under exemption. To understand potential benefits of regulations, we use predictive modelling of well-level production data of 1633 hydraulically fractured shale gas wells in five plays to estimate pre-production emissions. The mean estimate for flowback emissions (2346 ± 95% confidence interval of 91 Mg CO2e/completion) fall within the 95% confidence limits of measured potential emissions (2566 ± 777 Mg CO2e/completion). Our results indicate that in 2015, the average emissions per shale gas well undergoing flowback was 2347 Mg CO2e/completion in the U.S. and 1859 Mg CO2e/completion in Canada. Mean potential profits from controlling methane emissions using reduced emission completions were US$17,200/well in the U.S. and US$11,200/well in Canada.

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  • Umeozor, Evar C. & Jordaan, Sarah M. & Gates, Ian D., 2018. "On methane emissions from shale gas development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 594-600.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:152:y:2018:i:c:p:594-600
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.03.151
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. James A. Littlefield & Joe Marriott & Greg A. Schivley & Gregory Cooney & Timothy J. Skone, 2016. "Using Common Boundaries to Assess Methane Emissions: A Life Cycle Evaluation of Natural Gas and Coal Power Systems," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 20(6), pages 1360-1369, December.
    2. Zhang, Xiaochun & Myhrvold, Nathan P. & Hausfather, Zeke & Caldeira, Ken, 2016. "Climate benefits of natural gas as a bridge fuel and potential delay of near-zero energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 317-322.
    3. Franziska Holz & Philipp M. Richter & Ruud Egging, 2015. "A Global Perspective on the Future of Natural Gas: Resources, Trade, and Climate Constraints," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 9(1), pages 85-106.
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    Cited by:

    1. Feng, Gan & Kang, Yong & Sun, Ze-dong & Wang, Xiao-chuan & Hu, Yao-qing, 2019. "Effects of supercritical CO2 adsorption on the mechanical characteristics and failure mechanisms of shale," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 870-882.
    2. Tran, Trung Kien & Lin, Chia-Yang & Tu, Yu-Te & Duong, Nam Tien & Pham Thi, Thuy Dung & Shoh-Jakhon, Khamdamov, 2023. "Nexus between natural resource depletion and rent and COP26 commitments: Empirical evidence from Vietnam," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    3. Shan, Baochao & Wang, Runxi & Guo, Zhaoli & Wang, Peng, 2021. "Contribution quantification of nanoscale gas transport in shale based on strongly inhomogeneous kinetic model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    4. Chen, Lei & Huang, Ding-Bin & Wang, Shan-You & Nie, Yi-Nan & He, Ya-Ling & Tao, Wen-Quan, 2019. "A study on dynamic desorption process of methane in slits," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 1174-1180.
    5. Xi Yang & Alun Gu & Fujie Jiang & Wenli Xie & Qi Wu, 2020. "Integrated Assessment Modeling of China’s Shale Gas Resource: Energy System Optimization, Environmental Cobenefits, and Methane Risk," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-24, December.
    6. Yuan, Zhiyi & Ou, Xunmin & Peng, Tianduo & Yan, Xiaoyu, 2019. "Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of multi-pathways natural gas vehicles in china considering methane leakage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Wang, Hui & Chen, Li & Qu, Zhiguo & Yin, Ying & Kang, Qinjun & Yu, Bo & Tao, Wen-Quan, 2020. "Modeling of multi-scale transport phenomena in shale gas production — A critical review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    8. Qin, Chao & Jiang, Yongdong & Luo, Yahuang & Zhou, Junping & Liu, Hao & Song, Xiao & Li, Dong & Zhou, Feng & Xie, Yingliang, 2020. "Effect of supercritical CO2 saturation pressures and temperatures on the methane adsorption behaviours of Longmaxi shale," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).

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