Methane emissions decline from reduced oil, natural gas, and refinery production during COVID-19
In the summer of 2020, the AVIRIS-NG airborne imaging spectrometer surveyed California’s Southern San Joaquin Valley and the South Bay (Los Angeles County) to identify anthropogenic methane (CH _4 ) point source plumes, estimate emission rates, and attribute sources to both facilities and emission s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Communications |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/acb5e5 |
| _version_ | 1797844639870353408 |
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| author | A K Thorpe E A Kort D H Cusworth A K Ayasse B D Bue V Yadav D R Thompson C Frankenberg J Herner M Falk R O Green C E Miller R M Duren |
| author_facet | A K Thorpe E A Kort D H Cusworth A K Ayasse B D Bue V Yadav D R Thompson C Frankenberg J Herner M Falk R O Green C E Miller R M Duren |
| author_sort | A K Thorpe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the summer of 2020, the AVIRIS-NG airborne imaging spectrometer surveyed California’s Southern San Joaquin Valley and the South Bay (Los Angeles County) to identify anthropogenic methane (CH _4 ) point source plumes, estimate emission rates, and attribute sources to both facilities and emission sectors. These flights were designed to revisit regions previously surveyed by the 2016–2017 California Methane Survey and to assess the socioeconomic responses of COVID-19 on emissions across multiple sectors. For regions flown by both the California Methane Survey and the California COVID campaigns, total CH _4 point source emissions from the energy and oil & natural gas sectors were 34.8% lower during the summer 2020 flights, however, emission trends varied across sector. For the energy sector, there was a 28.2% decrease driven by reductions in refinery emissions consistent with a drop in production, which was offset in part with increases from powerplants. For the oil & natural gas sector, CH _4 emissions declined 34.2% and significant variability was observed at the oilfield scale. Emissions declined for all but the Buena Vista and Cymric fields with an observed positive relationship between production and emissions. In addition to characterizing the short-term impact of COVID-19 on CH _4 emissions, this study demonstrates the broader potential of remote sensing with sufficient sensitivity, spatial resolution, and spatio-temporal completeness to quantify changes in CH _4 emissions at the scale of key sectors and facilities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:25:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0d5e9251c9584bbebab09247f0ad9d4c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2515-7620 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:25:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-0d5e9251c9584bbebab09247f0ad9d4c2023-04-18T13:48:17ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Communications2515-76202023-01-015202100610.1088/2515-7620/acb5e5Methane emissions decline from reduced oil, natural gas, and refinery production during COVID-19A K Thorpe0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7968-5433E A Kort1D H Cusworth2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0158-977XA K Ayasse3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8401-1185B D Bue4V Yadav5D R Thompson6C Frankenberg7J Herner8M Falk9R O Green10C E Miller11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9380-4838R M Duren12Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, United States of AmericaUniversity of Michigan, United States of AmericaCarbon Mapper, United States of America; University of Arizona, United States of AmericaCarbon Mapper, United States of America; University of Arizona, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, United States of America; California Institute of Technology, United States of AmericaCalifornia Air Resources Board, United States of AmericaCalifornia Air Resources Board, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, United States of America; Carbon Mapper, United States of America; University of Arizona, United States of AmericaIn the summer of 2020, the AVIRIS-NG airborne imaging spectrometer surveyed California’s Southern San Joaquin Valley and the South Bay (Los Angeles County) to identify anthropogenic methane (CH _4 ) point source plumes, estimate emission rates, and attribute sources to both facilities and emission sectors. These flights were designed to revisit regions previously surveyed by the 2016–2017 California Methane Survey and to assess the socioeconomic responses of COVID-19 on emissions across multiple sectors. For regions flown by both the California Methane Survey and the California COVID campaigns, total CH _4 point source emissions from the energy and oil & natural gas sectors were 34.8% lower during the summer 2020 flights, however, emission trends varied across sector. For the energy sector, there was a 28.2% decrease driven by reductions in refinery emissions consistent with a drop in production, which was offset in part with increases from powerplants. For the oil & natural gas sector, CH _4 emissions declined 34.2% and significant variability was observed at the oilfield scale. Emissions declined for all but the Buena Vista and Cymric fields with an observed positive relationship between production and emissions. In addition to characterizing the short-term impact of COVID-19 on CH _4 emissions, this study demonstrates the broader potential of remote sensing with sufficient sensitivity, spatial resolution, and spatio-temporal completeness to quantify changes in CH _4 emissions at the scale of key sectors and facilities.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/acb5e5methaneemissionpoint sourceplumeCOVIDnext generation airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer |
| spellingShingle | A K Thorpe E A Kort D H Cusworth A K Ayasse B D Bue V Yadav D R Thompson C Frankenberg J Herner M Falk R O Green C E Miller R M Duren Methane emissions decline from reduced oil, natural gas, and refinery production during COVID-19 Environmental Research Communications methane emission point source plume COVID next generation airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer |
| title | Methane emissions decline from reduced oil, natural gas, and refinery production during COVID-19 |
| title_full | Methane emissions decline from reduced oil, natural gas, and refinery production during COVID-19 |
| title_fullStr | Methane emissions decline from reduced oil, natural gas, and refinery production during COVID-19 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Methane emissions decline from reduced oil, natural gas, and refinery production during COVID-19 |
| title_short | Methane emissions decline from reduced oil, natural gas, and refinery production during COVID-19 |
| title_sort | methane emissions decline from reduced oil natural gas and refinery production during covid 19 |
| topic | methane emission point source plume COVID next generation airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/acb5e5 |
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