Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through a reliance on natural gas can create a hidden commitment to methane (CH4) leakage mitigation. While the quantity of CH4 leakage from natural gas has been studied extensively, the magnitude and timi...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/135196 |
| _version_ | 1810980403993903104 |
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| author | Klemun, Magdalena M Trancik, Jessika E |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society Klemun, Magdalena M Trancik, Jessika E |
| author_sort | Klemun, Magdalena M |
| collection | MIT |
| description | © 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through a reliance on natural gas can create a hidden commitment to methane (CH4) leakage mitigation. While the quantity of CH4 leakage from natural gas has been studied extensively, the magnitude and timing of the CH4 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 CH4 to CO2-equivalent emissions. We find that CH4 emissions from the power sector would need to be reduced by 30%-90% from today's levels by 2030 in order to meet a CO2-equivalent climate policy target while continuing to rely on natural gas. These CH4 emissions reductions are greater than the required CO2 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 | 2024-09-23T09:58:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/135196 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:58:18Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1351962023-02-24T21:46:41Z Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement Klemun, Magdalena M Trancik, Jessika E Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society © 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through a reliance on natural gas can create a hidden commitment to methane (CH4) leakage mitigation. While the quantity of CH4 leakage from natural gas has been studied extensively, the magnitude and timing of the CH4 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 CH4 to CO2-equivalent emissions. We find that CH4 emissions from the power sector would need to be reduced by 30%-90% from today's levels by 2030 in order to meet a CO2-equivalent climate policy target while continuing to rely on natural gas. These CH4 emissions reductions are greater than the required CO2 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. 2021-10-27T20:22:25Z 2021-10-27T20:22:25Z 2019 2021-05-07T13:28:22Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/135196 en 10.1088/1748-9326/AB2577 Environmental Research Letters Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf IOP Publishing IOP Publishing |
| spellingShingle | Klemun, Magdalena M Trancik, Jessika E Timelines for mitigating the methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide abatement |
| 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 |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/135196 |
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