The U.S. Department of Energy announced a $47 million investment to reduce methane emissions in the gas and oil sector
The funds will support 22 research projects aimed at developing new technologies for measuring, monitoring and reducing methane emissions in U.S. oil and natural gas production regions, according to a March 13 DOE news release.
“Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, making methane reduction a critical part of our nation’s long-term climate solution,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in the release.
DOE considers the initiatives critical, as methane emissions are the second most significant contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. The funding is expected to help detect, quantify and mitigate these emissions, the release reported.
“The projects announced today will help DOE accelerate the deployment of technology that detects and reduces methane emissions across the oil and gas sector — our largest source of industrial methane — leading to long-lasting health and environmental benefits for communities across the country,” Granholm added, according to the release.
The projects will be in five areas, including upstream/midstream source methane emission mitigation, surface-based methane monitoring and measurement networks, basin-specific needs for methane emission mitigation, integrated methane monitoring platform design and research on emissions from storage tanks, the release reported
The DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management will oversee these selected projects, according to the release.
"FECM conducts research, development, demonstration and deployment that focuses on technologies to reduce carbon emissions and other environmental impacts from fossil fuel production and use and from key industrial processes, particularly the hardest-to-decarbonize applications in the electricity and industrial sectors," the news release said. "Priority areas of technology work include carbon capture, carbon conversion, carbon dioxide removal, carbon dioxide transport and storage, hydrogen production with carbon management, methane emissions reduction and critical minerals production."
