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Excess methane emissions from shallow water platforms elevate the carbon intensity of US Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production.
Gorchov Negron, Alan M; Kort, Eric A; Chen, Yuanlei; Brandt, Adam R; Smith, Mackenzie L; Plant, Genevieve; Ayasse, Alana K; Schwietzke, Stefan; Zavala-Araiza, Daniel; Hausman, Catherine; Adames-Corraliza, Ángel F.
Afiliação
  • Gorchov Negron AM; Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
  • Kort EA; Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
  • Chen Y; Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
  • Brandt AR; Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
  • Smith ML; Scientific Aviation, Boulder, CO 80301.
  • Plant G; Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
  • Ayasse AK; Arizona Institutes for Resilience, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719.
  • Schwietzke S; Carbon Mapper, Pasadena, CA 91105.
  • Zavala-Araiza D; Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, DC 20009.
  • Hausman C; Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, DC 20009.
  • Adames-Corraliza ÁF; Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 120(15): e2215275120, 2023 Apr 11.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37011214
The Gulf of Mexico is the largest offshore fossil fuel production basin in the United States. Decisions on expanding production in the region legally depend on assessments of the climate impact of new growth. Here, we collect airborne observations and combine them with previous surveys and inventories to estimate the climate impact of current field operations. We evaluate all major on-site greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide (CO2) from combustion, and methane from losses and venting. Using these findings, we estimate the climate impact per unit of energy of produced oil and gas (the carbon intensity). We find high methane emissions (0.60 Tg/y [0.41 to 0.81, 95% confidence interval]) exceeding inventories. This elevates the average CI of the basin to 5.3 g CO2e/MJ [4.1 to 6.7] (100-y horizon) over twice the inventories. The CI across the Gulf varies, with deep water production exhibiting a low CI dominated by combustion emissions (1.1 g CO2e/MJ), while shallow federal and state waters exhibit an extraordinarily high CI (16 and 43 g CO2e/MJ) primarily driven by methane emissions from central hub facilities (intermediaries for gathering and processing). This shows that production in shallow waters, as currently operated, has outsized climate impact. To mitigate these climate impacts, methane emissions in shallow waters must be addressed through efficient flaring instead of venting and repair, refurbishment, or abandonment of poorly maintained infrastructure. We demonstrate an approach to evaluate the CI of fossil fuel production using observations, considering all direct production emissions while allocating to all fossil products.
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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Tipo de estudo: Prognostic_studies País/Região como assunto: Mexico Idioma: En Revista: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Ano de publicação: 2023 Tipo de documento: Article País de publicação: Estados Unidos
Texto completo
Adicionar na Minha BVS
Imprimir
XML
PubMed Links
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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Tipo de estudo: Prognostic_studies País/Região como assunto: Mexico Idioma: En Revista: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Ano de publicação: 2023 Tipo de documento: Article País de publicação: Estados Unidos