[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')
The natural gas industry received a gold star for performance during the recent cold weather across a large portion of the United States. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported recently consumption of natural gas in the residential and commercial sectors set a record for the week ending on Jan. 5. EIA said consumption reached 452 billion cubic feet (Bcf) compared with 348 Bcf during the previous week, according to estimates from PointLogic Energy. Total weekly natural gas consumption in the Lower 48 states increased by 150 Bcf, reaching 961 Bcf for the week ending Jan. 5. Another 50 Bcf was exported by pipeline. EIA also noted natural gas spot prices at the national benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana averaged $3.01 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2017 about 50 cents per MMBtu higher than in 2016. Overall, natural gas prices at key regional

[ROCKMAN]

coffee - Yes, floaters seem to make a lot of sense especially when source NG isn't very large or political instability is an issue. Sometimes the politicos in Boston get a little pissy about the regasification facility across the harbor from the city. And they need the option more then ever these days.

[kanon]

I am curious whether there are statistics on the amount of natural gas venting. As I understand it, there was a time when natural gas was either vented or flared because the economic product was oil. In particular, what the rate of natural gas venting in the 1930's?

[Plantagenet]

The EPA has outlawed venting of NG because it is a pollutant. It is also a powerful greenhouse gas...about 60X more effective then CO2.

Nonetheless, CH4 emissions from the oil and gas industry have risen rapidly since 2005 to the point that global methane emissions are causing a sharp rise in global atmospheric methane levels. This in turn is contributing to the significant rise in global temperatures we are seeing, with a global T increase of 0.4°C just over the last four years.

nasa-study-methane/

The huge increase in methane from the oil and gas industry partly reflects the increasing use of NG in US power plants, with concomitant leaks of CH4 from fracked wells, pipes, storage containers, etc. all through the US energy system.

One of the first things we need to do to mitigate global warming is to reduce and then end the use of NG.


Methane leaks from a typical urban NG pipeline home delivery system

Cheers!

[KaiserJeep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')-snip-

One of the first things we need to do to mitigate global warming is to reduce and then end the use of NG.

-snip-

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', ' ')The replacement of coal by NG was the brightest hope during Obama's terms. Now you say it's a problem. Surely less of a problem than dirty coal.

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he EPA has outlawed venting of NG because it is a pollutant. It is also a powerful greenhouse gas...about 60X more effective then CO2.

Nonetheless, CH4 emissions from the oil and gas industry have risen rapidly since 2005 to the point that global methane emissions are causing a sharp rise in global atmospheric methane levels. This in turn is contributing to the significant rise in global temperatures we are seeing, with a global T increase of 0.4°C just over the last four years.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')global methane emissions are causing a sharp rise in global atmospheric methane levels.

[KaiserJeep]

Those figures you are quoting just do not correlate with the IPCC data.

The methane you mention as a huge problem is smaller than chloroflourocarbons, for example.

I'll acknowledge that it is a more potent GHG when it is present but both carbon dioxide and chloroflorocarbons remain in the atmosphere far longer before they disperse and disassociate.

That's always the problem with statistics. There are so many and they contradict one another. The IPCC for example has a very poor accuracy record, where does your data in that NASA paper come from? Because NASA and NOAA for example also produce the Earthsat data that shows the globe is cooling not warming.

It's the curse of search engines. You can search out confirmation for about any position, with no way of knowing what is a credible source. That's what peer reviews are for.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', 'T')hose figures you are quoting just do not correlate with the IPCC data.

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '.') The US is a major source of methane going into the atmosphere. The 6-8% reductions in CH4 leaks from some US oil basins that you are touting sound nice, until you do the math and find that 92-94% of the outrageous amount of CH4 found leaking into the atmosphere is STILL leaking into the atmosphere. And there are more methane leaks from NG infrastructure such as pipelines and storage facilities all around the world.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '.') The US is a major source of methane going into the atmosphere. The 6-8% reductions in CH4 leaks from some US oil basins that you are touting sound nice, until you do the math and find that 92-94% of the outrageous amount of CH4 found leaking into the atmosphere is STILL leaking into the atmosphere. And there are more methane leaks from NG infrastructure such as pipelines and storage facilities all around the world.

[rockdoc123]

Look dipshit, you clearly don't understand what is being done, but for some reason that never stops you from pretending, you are smarter than everyone else. They have a measurement of total global CH4 and it's isotopic components from satellites. As the authors stated previously any attempt to tie emissions from various sources resulted in way more CH4 than has been measured.
The isotopic mixture cannot tell them how much has come from any one of the three simply because it is a mix and different combinations can result in a very similar mix.
This is what they say in the Introduction:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')owever, determining the relative contributions of anthropogenic, biogeochemical, and chemical drivers of methane trends has been extremely challenging and consequently there is effectively no confidence in projections of future atmospheric methane concentrations. The striking disagreement from several recent studies explaining the changes to atmospheric methane since 2006 is likely due to the assumptions (and extrapolations) involved in attributing source variability to the observed changes in atmospheric methane. For example, surface measurements of CH4 and its isotopic composition suggest a shift of methane sources toward increasing tropical biogenic (BG) sources. However, this explanation appears to directly conflict with observations of increasing FF sources that range between 5 and 25 Tg CH4 per year based on ethane/CH4 ratios as well as studies based on satellite-based total column methane measurements. Other studies show that we cannot rule out inter-annual variations in the hydroxyl radical (OH) chemical methane sink as the cause; however, these studies do not directly show changes in atmospheric OH or provide a mechanistic reason for a change.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rockdoc123', 'L')ook dipshit......

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')et a grip on yourself, crockdoc.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f there was a huge problem the increased drilling and production should have resulted in a significant increase in methane emissions.

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hile your statement is true for some individual basins in the USA, on a global basis emissions from fossil fuels are INCREASING. Consider the facts:

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')As far as I am aware nobody has gone around measuring CH4 leaks from wells around the world as EPA has done in the US. Just try and do that in a place like Algeria or Qatar two countries with huge natural gas production.

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he NASA report says they can determine that the methane in the atmosphere comes from different sources because it has different isotopic characteristics. In particular, they can determine how much atmospheric methane comes from fossil fuels. Thats three different ideas so far---do you have them all in your mind. If so, lets go for the conclusion:

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he NASA report says they can determine that the methane in the atmosphere comes from different sources because it has different isotopic characteristics.