Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
4/18/2014
IN EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency this week released five technical papers for peer review as part of the Obama Administration’s plans to reduce methane emissions. The five papers cover compressors, emissions from completions and ongoing production of hydraulically fractured oil wells, leaks, liquids unloading and pneumatic devices. The EPA has identified these areas as potentially significant sources of emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds. The EPA is seeking feedback from peers and public on the papers. Input is due by June 16.
The United States saw a 3.4 percent decrease in emissions from 2011-2012, according to this year’s Inventory of Greenhouse Gas the Environmental Protection Agency released this week. The EPA attributed the decline to a decrease in the carbon intensity of fuels consumed by power producers due to a decrease in the price of natural gas, a decrease in transportation emissions due to an increase in fuel efficiency and reductions in travel and a decreased demand for heating fuel due to a warm winter. Also of note is a reported 10 percent decrease in GHG emissions from 2005 levels.
IN THE STATES
A recent study conducted by researchers at Purdue and Cornell universities uncovered unexpectedly high emissions of methane above a Pennsylvania shale well. The study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found high levels of methane above seven wells in southwestern Pennsylvania. The findings were unusual as the wells were being drilled at the time the high levels were observed, a phase which generally does not lead to increased levels. The levels noted in the report were, in some cases, 100 to 1,000 times greater than EPA’s estimates as published in the annual Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
IN THE INDUSTRY
Unionized workers will be given preference to the estimated 620 jobs predicted to be created during construction of FutureGen under an agreement reached this week. The agreement, signed by FutureGen Alliance CEO Ken Humphreys and 17 local labor unions during an April 14 ceremony, also guarantees no strikes or lockouts for the project. The agreement will not only result in employment for local construction workers, but will also allow FutureGen to know their labor costs before construction.
