| Description |
Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas with 28-34 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide on a 100-year timescale. Although natural gas is touted as a bridge fuel, one study suggests no climate benefit to the use of natural gas over coal as an energy source if fugitive emissions (emissions lost to the atmosphere) exceed 2% of production. To assess the climate impact of natural gas production, emission estimates are needed to detect and monitor fugitive emission rates. In some gas fields within the U.S., such as the Uinta Basin, as much as 12% of natural gas production may be lost as fugitive emissions. I will present the Lagrangian Estimation of Aircraft-derived Fluxes (LEAF) method to estimate methane emissions over the Uinta Basin. This technique combines a novel time series with the Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) model to develop a flexible framework with fewer meteorological requirements for validity than other commonly used methods. |
