Latest Information

Validation of Remote Sensing Natural Gas Leak Detection

Prepared for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety—GTI Project Number 22690 Final Report January 2022

The recent and rapid development of new remote sensing-based methane leak detection technologies has prompted a need to properly evaluate and validate those technologies. The new technologies are full systems of advanced sensors that contain not only highly sensitive methane analyzers but also a suite of other instruments and algorithms required to remotely locate leaks. Traditional evaluations/validations have tended to focus on the methane sensor portion of the system instead of the full system. In this project, we developed and tested a method for evaluation of full drone-based methane detection remote sensing systems, with a focus on natural gas transmission pipelines in hard to access areas

METHANE EMISSION CALCULATOR

This calculator can be used to estimate total annual methane emissions from your company.

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The calculator is currently offline while the database is updated to the latest EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory estimates.

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CMR REPORTS

CMR SUMMARIES

Proposed Changes to the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Concerning Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution
The EPA has recently proposed multiple revisions to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) that aim to improve the quality of the data collected by adopting new calculations and monitoring methods or even collecting new data altogether where necessary.

U.S. EPA proposed changes to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program - June 2022

CMR Initiated Changes to New England Journal of Medicine Article
A short Perspective paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine called the “The False Promise of Natural Gas” contained incorrect values for natural gas subsidies received from the federal government, revealing bias in the authors. The CMR alerted the journal editor, who then required an update to the article. Efforts like this review for accuracy and subsequent corrections are at the core of CMR efforts.

CMR WHITE PAPERS

EXTERNAL ARTICLES

Environmental Injustices of Leaks from Urban Natural Gas Distribution Systems: Patterns among and within 13 U.S. Metro Areas

Recent study points out inequities in numbers of leaks across urban areas.

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Leak Detection Body of Knowledge - Recommended Practice

Prepared for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety—GTI Project Number 22420 Final Report January 2021

This Recommended Practice (RP) is intended to outline the key factors that must be considered when establishing and maintaining an onshore natural gas external leak detection system to minimize methane emissions and sustain the safety and reliability of transmission pipelines. It provides a framework that represents industry best practices for selecting and evaluating performance of leak detection systems, and includes information on establishing performance targets and metrics, reporting requirements, data/measurement quality management, and control center responses.

These approaches may also be broadly applicable to other natural gas pipelines and associated sets of asset categories or facilities beyond transmission infrastructure.

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Recently Published Articles of Interest

March 2021

New studies on methane in the atmosphere are being published at a rapid pace. The CMR works to summarize those articles in a central location so that interested parties can always be informed of the most up to date scientific information on the topic.

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Oil and Natural Gas Methane Emissions Shown to Not be the Dominant Cause of Recent Increases in Atmospheric Methane Concentrations

March 2020

A recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports joins a growing body of research, based on atmospheric carbon isotopes, that shows fossil sources are not responsible for documented increases. Instead, biogenic sources (largely wetland and landfills) are the overwhelming force driving atmospheric methane concentrations higher.

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Latest Information

Validation of Remote Sensing Natural Gas Leak Detection

GTI Energy

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