US university to develop oil and gas operations emission calculator

A team led by the University of Texas at Austin in the US has received a research project to develop a tool to model emissions inventories from oil and gas production.

The project was awarded by an industry-led collaborative research consortium Collaboratory for Advancing Methane Science (CAMS) and requires the university to study spatial and temporal methane emissions profiles across various oil and gas basins.

The university will work in partnership with Colorado State University and SLR Consulting to develop libraries of emissions datasets and activity factors.

The proposed model should be able to select custom emissions and activity factors from these libraries or utilise data provided by the user.

Expected to be developed by the end of this year, the tool will enable simulation of emissions for any basin in a given space and time.

The project comes after the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in a recent report called for improved tracking of methane emissions by developing accurate and regularly updated inventories.

An external Scientific Advisory Board comprising Stanford University’s Dr Franklin Orr and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Dr Russ Schnell will review the research project.

Orr said: “Monitoring, measuring and mapping methane emissions in a more transparent and accessible way will help regulators, industry and the public evaluate effective methane reduction strategies.

“This project will provide a rigorous and scientific open source model that will generate much-improved emissions inventory estimates.”

Methane is a key component of natural gas, which is used to heat homes and produce electricity.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, methane is estimated to have a global warming potential (GWP) of 28-36 over 100 years and absorbs more energy than carbon dioxide.

Gas Technology Institute R&D director Kristine Wiley said: “This research team has decades of experience in developing emission inventories and performing methane emission measurements and will leverage their collective expertise to advance the science of methane emissions.

“Developing innovative approaches that deliver a deeper mechanistic understanding of emissions can result in more effective reduction strategies.”

The CAMS consortium includes Cheniere, Chevron, Equinor, ExxonMobil and Pioneer Natural Resources. GTI is the programme administrator for CAMS.