There was some good news Friday. The Energy Information Agency (BIA) reported that energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the United States last year were the lowest since 1994. Power plants released 5.3 billion metric tons of CO2 less than in 2011. With the exception of 2010, emissions have declined every year since 2007.
Switch from coal to gas, wind, and solar reduced emissions
The drop in emissions in 2012 came from a reduction in use of coal for generation of electricity. During 2012 lower natural gas prices resulted in a switch from coal generation, to natural gas generation—a less carbon-intensive fuel.
Natural gas can not take all the credit, however. The amount of electricity generated from wind and solar continued to increase in 2012 and this reduced the amount of coal and gas required to generate electrical power. There were also lower emissions from gasoline and diesel due to lower demand due to increased fuel efficiency in cars, and high fuel prices that reduced driving. The warm winter during 2012 also reduced the demand for energy to heat homes and businesses.
With the good news, however, is some bad news. The reason utilities have been switching to natural gas is that coal is no longer the lowest cost fuel. Natural gas prices have dropped like a stone with the advent of the fracking boom that has blanketed much of the country. Natural gas is being produced from fracking wells in huge quantities and at lower cost than traditional methods.
How is that bad news? The reason is that production of the natural gas by fracking pollutes the atmosphere at the well head offsetting the gains from reduced emissions at the smoke stack.
Leaking methane at fracking sites adding to greenhouse gas pollution
The World Resources Institute (WRI) released a new report last week found that fugitive methane emissions from natural gas systems represent a significant source of global warming pollution in the U.S. They said that reductions in methane emissions are urgently needed as part of the broader effort to slow the rate of global temperature rise.
Fugitive methane is simply gas that leaks into the atmosphere at the well head or from leaking pipelines. Other studies have show that as much as 9% of all the gas recovered in certain fracking wells leaks into the atmosphere.
Methane is a much worse greenhouse gas when it comes to global warming than CO2.
The WRI said that cutting methane leakage rates to less than 1% percent of total production would ensure that the climate impacts of natural gas are lower than coal or diesel fuel over any time horizon. This goal can be achieved by reducing emissions by one-half to two-thirds below current levels through the widespread use of proven, cost-effective technologies.
Fugitive methane emissions occur at every stage of the natural gas life cycle; however,
The total amount of leakage is unclear. More comprehensive and current direct emissions measurements are needed from this regionally diverse and rapidly expanding energy sector.
Recent standards from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will substantially reduce leakage from natural gas systems, but to help slow the rate of global warming and improve air quality, further action by states and EPA should directly address fugitive methane from new and existing wells and equipment the report concluded.
The obstructionist Congress does not need to be an obstacle. The existing Clean Air Act (CAA) provides authority for issuing stronger rules for reducing upstream methane emissions. This approach would get input from affected industries and allow the states flexibility to implement rules according to unique local circumstances. In other words it would not put fracking companies out of business which they will claim
The fracking industry will likely resist any rules to reduce leaking methane. They would rather lose the revenue from the wasted 9% of their product than invest in equipment to reduce that harmful waste. The quick billion bucks is always more attractive than saving the planet for our children and grandchildren.
Let’s hope the EPA and other agencies address this leaking methane problem so we can achieve a net reduction in greenhouse gas, not just a reduction in one source.
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