Relevant Articles
External Articles
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.