Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement
Reducing carbon dioxide (CO _2 ) emissions through a reliance on natural gas can create a hidden commitment to methane (CH _4 ) leakage mitigation. While the quantity of CH _4 leakage from natural gas has been studied extensively, the magnitude and timing of the CH _4 mitigation required to meet cli...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2577 |
| _version_ | 1797747981014794240 |
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| author | Magdalena M Klemun Jessika E Trancik |
| author_facet | Magdalena M Klemun Jessika E Trancik |
| author_sort | Magdalena M Klemun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Reducing carbon dioxide (CO _2 ) emissions through a reliance on natural gas can create a hidden commitment to methane (CH _4 ) leakage mitigation. While the quantity of CH _4 leakage from natural gas has been studied extensively, the magnitude and timing of the CH _4 mitigation required to meet climate policy goals is less well understood. Here we address this topic by examining the case of US electricity under a range of baseline natural gas leakage rate estimates and emissions equivalency metrics for converting CH _4 to CO _2 -equivalent emissions. We find that CH _4 emissions from the power sector would need to be reduced by 30%–90% from today’s levels by 2030 in order to meet a CO _2 -equivalent climate policy target while continuing to rely on natural gas. These CH _4 emissions reductions are greater than the required CO _2 reductions under the same policy. Alternatively, expanding carbon-free sources more rapidly could meet the 2030 target without reductions in natural gas leakage rates. The results provide insight on an important policy choice in regions and sectors using natural gas, between emphasizing a natural gas supply chain clean-up effort or an accelerated transition toward carbon-free energy sources. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:58:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2e0ea95058154e7bba96854038f61fb0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:58:23Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-2e0ea95058154e7bba96854038f61fb02023-08-09T14:44:04ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262019-01-01141212406910.1088/1748-9326/ab2577Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatementMagdalena M Klemun0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6021-0753Jessika E Trancik1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6305-2105Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States of AmericaInstitute for Data, Systems, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States of America; Santa Fe Institute, United States of AmericaReducing carbon dioxide (CO _2 ) emissions through a reliance on natural gas can create a hidden commitment to methane (CH _4 ) leakage mitigation. While the quantity of CH _4 leakage from natural gas has been studied extensively, the magnitude and timing of the CH _4 mitigation required to meet climate policy goals is less well understood. Here we address this topic by examining the case of US electricity under a range of baseline natural gas leakage rate estimates and emissions equivalency metrics for converting CH _4 to CO _2 -equivalent emissions. We find that CH _4 emissions from the power sector would need to be reduced by 30%–90% from today’s levels by 2030 in order to meet a CO _2 -equivalent climate policy target while continuing to rely on natural gas. These CH _4 emissions reductions are greater than the required CO _2 reductions under the same policy. Alternatively, expanding carbon-free sources more rapidly could meet the 2030 target without reductions in natural gas leakage rates. The results provide insight on an important policy choice in regions and sectors using natural gas, between emphasizing a natural gas supply chain clean-up effort or an accelerated transition toward carbon-free energy sources.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2577climate policynatural gasmethane leakagegreenhouse gasesfugitive emissionsemissions equivalency metric |
| spellingShingle | Magdalena M Klemun Jessika E Trancik Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement Environmental Research Letters climate policy natural gas methane leakage greenhouse gases fugitive emissions emissions equivalency metric |
| title | Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement |
| title_full | Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement |
| title_fullStr | Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement |
| title_full_unstemmed | Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement |
| title_short | Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement |
| title_sort | timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement |
| topic | climate policy natural gas methane leakage greenhouse gases fugitive emissions emissions equivalency metric |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2577 |
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