It can happen when energy companies are doing maintenance. It is no less vexing.
Energy Transfer’s Mariner East system is being built to deliver such natural gas liquids as propane from Western Pa. to Marcus Hook. File Photo
By Naureen Malik and Aaron Clark Bloomberg News
Plumes of the super-warming greenhouse gas methane were spotted over the Midwest last month. U.S. pipeline giant Energy Transfer said the releases were triggered by “routine work” on its natural gas infrastructure.
The emissions were likely limited in scope. By one estimate if they lasted an hour they would have roughly the same short-term climate impact as the annual emissions of about 700 cars. A spokesperson for Energy Transfer, which also owns the contentious Mariner East pipeline in Pennsylvania, had no information on the amount released.
However, the releases raise questions about the urgency and ability of operators to respond to the climate crisis, and whether these emissions can be avoided. “During this time routine work was being performed,” the spokesperson said in an email. “All appropriate notifications were made.”
Many global oil and gas operators have said they are committed to reducing the methane intensity of their operations by cutting back on intentional emissions of the greenhouse gas. The industry is under pressure to improve operations to tackle climate change and respond to increasing investor scrutiny on environmental issues. Still, multiple operators continue to justify releases as a part of normal operations.
Halting intentional releases and accidental leaks of methane, the primary component of natural gas, could do more to slow climate change than almost any other single measure. Methane has more than 80 times the warming impact of carbon dioxide over the short term.
Scientists are targeting methane emissions from the oil and gas industry because they offer the biggest potential cuts at the cheapest cost. The U.S. was the world’s second-largest methane emitter last year after Russia, according to an estimate from the International Energy Agency.
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