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Reduce your Methane Emissions
Condensate Storage Tank Emissions (WMV) (2:04, 6MB)Click image to play video
Methane emissions occur in all sectors of the natural gas industry, from production, through processing and transmission, to distribution. These emissions are primarily from normal operations, maintenance, fugitive leaks and system upsets. In addition to natural gas operations, methane emissions can result from the oil industry, primarily from field production operations, such as venting of associated gas from oil wells, oil storage tanks, and production-related equipment such as gas dehydrators, pig traps, and pneumatic devices. All of these emissions sources represent an opportunity to capture an otherwise wasted resource. Aggregate methane emission estimates by the major oil and natural gas sectors in the United States are presented in the chart below. Click on a sector to view more information about technologies to help mitigate methane emissions.
Source: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990 - 2012, USEPA, April, 2014.
Mitigating Methane Emissions by Sector
The links below show the major emission categories in each sector of the industry, as well as related technologies to help mitigate emissions from these sources.
Other Resources
- Technical Documents on Recommended Technologies and Practices — To promote technology transfer and share industry best practices, Natural Gas STAR provides information on cost-effective methane emission reduction opportunities through a variety of technical documents.
- Reports, White Papers and Technical Articles — These technical articles and additional resources may be of use to Natural Gas STAR partners and others, and include information about options for reducing methane emissions and other Natural Gas STAR related issues.
- Natural Gas STAR Program Fact Sheet (PDF) (4 pp, 277K) — This fact sheet provides a quick snapshot of the Natural Gas STAR Program and why reducing methane emissions is so important in today's market place and environment.
- Natural Gas STAR Industry Sector Presentations — These presentations provide general information about Natural Gas STAR Program goals, benefits and accomplishments, partner case studies, and recommended methane emission reduction technologies and practices:
- Production (PPT) (13 pp, 1.4 MB)
- Gathering and Processing (PPT) (13 pp, 1.8 MB)
- Transmission (PPT) (13 pp, 1.2 MB)
- Distribution (PPT) (13 pp, 1.7 MB)
- International (PPT) (16 pp, 2.7 MB)