Reducing Methane from Oil & Gas Operations

Methane emissions are rising — but there are solutions available.

This post originally appeared on the Pisces Foundation blog.

Vrinda Manglik

December 6, 2019

Tasked with writing a blog post about methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure for the Pisces Foundation, a San Francisco-based environmental philanthropy where I work, I contemplated how to make the issue come to life. Commuting on a BART train one morning, I noticed the drawings by one of my favorite illustrators in a cookbook another passenger was reading. It occurred to me that a visual portrayal of the methane issue might be a compelling way to help people understand the problem this pollutant poses. After all, most of us are so bombarded with information that it can be hard for messages to cut through the noise.

While methane emissions from oil and gas operations may seem to be a technical or abstract topic, it is actually a subject that is deeply rooted in the physical world — and one that remains stubbornly relevant. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to the warming of the planet, and methane emissions are rising, in large part due to fossil fuel extraction.

In California, where I live, one can see oil and gas infrastructure in many parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and the Central Valley. For the communities that live close to such infrastructure, the health impacts are stark. As the federal government considers rolling back existing regulations on methane emissions from oil and gas operations, affected communities have publicly shared their stories and concerns about health and climate change.

I hope this illustrated series can raise awareness of the methane issue as well as the readily-available solutions that exist to abate it.

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Reducing Methane From Oil and Gas, by Vrinda Manglik

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These days, more of us are using gas in our daily lives.

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And though people expect gas to be there when they want to use it, we should know there are real downsides to producing gas.

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The oil + gas production process leads to harmful leaks of methane and dangerous chemicals. Oil + gas production is booming in the US, and production damages public health, costs communities, and contributes to climate change in a big way.

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Methane, or CH4, is a powerful greenhouse gas, a super pollutant. It's short-lived in the atmosphere, but it's super potent. Over a 20-year time frame, it's 86x more powerful than CO2 (at equal weight)

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And methane emissions are rising, threatening communitites and contributing to global warming.

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The oil + gas industry is responsible for 20% of global methane emissions from human activities each year, mostly from oil + gas production... but it doesn't have to be this way...

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As soon as possible, we have to decrease greenhouse gasses across our whole economy. That means phasing out fossil fuels completely, to advance to a world where people and nature thrive together.

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In the meantime, while we're working on that broader effort, regulations can require oil + gas companies to tighten operations. About half of these methane emissons can be reduced at little to no net cost.

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Recently, Mexico and Canada have passed regulations to get the oil + gas industry to reduce methane emissions by 45% by 2025. In the US, some states have rules, and for now there are federal rules, but proposed changes would roll them back.

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To support progress on regulations, organizations like the Clean Air Task Force, EDF, etc. share information with policymakers about best practices for reducing emissions.

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Partners such as EDF and Earthworks are using technology to detect and independently verify methane emissions. Satellites and infared cameras help us know where the problems are so we can hold polluters accountable.

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We must address methane emissons to ensure a safe and stable climate and improve the health of our communities for generations to come. The oil + gas industry has the opportunity to deploy these readily available low-cost solutions.

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People and planet can thrive together. How will you help?

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Vrinda Manglik

Vrinda Manglik works for the Climate & Energy Program of the Pisces Foundation, and has previously worked for environmental organizations including the Sierra Club. Follow her on Twitter @VrindaManglik and Instagram @art_by_vrinda

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