Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowout

Sudhanshu Pandey; Ritesh Gautam; Sander Houweling; Hugo Denier Van Der Gon; Pankaj Sadavarte; Tobias Borsdorff; Otto Hasekamp; Jochen Landgraf; Paul Tol; Tim Van Kempen; Ruud Hoogeveen; Richard Van Hees; Steven P. Hamburg; Joannes D. Maasakkers; Ilse Aben

doi:10.1073/pnas.1908712116

Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowout

Sudhanshu Pandey^*
, Ritesh Gautam
, Sander Houweling
, Hugo Denier Van Der Gon
, Pankaj Sadavarte
, Tobias Borsdorff
, Otto Hasekamp
, Jochen Landgraf
, Paul Tol
, Tim Van Kempen
, Ruud Hoogeveen
, Richard Van Hees
, Steven P. Hamburg
, Joannes D. Maasakkers
, Ilse Aben

^*Corresponding author for this work

Earth Sciences

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

150 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Methane emissions due to accidents in the oil and natural gas sector are very challenging tomonitor, and hence are seldomconsidered in emission inventories and reporting. One of the main reasons is the lack of measurements during such events. Here we report the detection of large methane emissions from a gas well blowout in Ohio during February to March 2018 in the total column methane measurements from the spaceborne Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). From these data, we derive a methane emission rate of 120 ± 32 metric tons per hour. This hourly emission rate is twice that of the widely reported Aliso Canyon event in California in 2015. Assuming the detected emission represents the average rate for the 20-d blowout period, we find the total methane emission from the well blowout is comparable to one-quarter of the entire state of Ohio's reported annual oil and natural gas methane emission, or, alternatively, a substantial fraction of the annual anthropogenic methane emissions from several European countries. Our work demonstrates the strength and effectiveness of routine satellite measurements in detecting and quantifying greenhouse gas emission from unpredictable events. In this specific case, the magnitude of a relatively unknown yet extremely large accidental leakage was revealed using measurements of TROPOMI in its routine global survey, providing quantitative assessment of associated methane emissions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	26376-26381
Number of pages	6
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)
Volume	116
Issue number	52
Early online date	16 Dec 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908712116
Publication status	Published - 26 Dec 2019

Funding

We thank the team that has realized the TROPOMI instrument, consisting of the partnership between Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (TNO), and Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Netherlands Space Office (NSO), and European Space Agency. This research contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2017 and 2018. The methane data processing was carried out on the Dutch national e-infrastructure with the support of SURF Cooperative. We would also like to thank David Lyon, Environmental Defense Fund, for stimulating discussions regarding the well blowout in Ohio and US O&G emissions. We also thank Anthony J. Marchese, Colorado State University, for sharing with us gas flow rate sensitivity calculations representative of the well blowout event. Earthworks is kindly acknowledged for making available the videos on the blowout event. Support for R.G. and S.P.H. was provided by the Robertson Foundation. This research is supported through the GALES (Gas Leaks from Space) project (Grant 15597) by the Dutch Technology Foundation, which is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and is partly funded by Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Netherlands. T.B., P.T., and T.K. are funded by the TROPOMI national program from the NSO. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the team that has realized the TROPOMI instrument, consisting of the partnership between Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (TNO), and Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Netherlands Space Office (NSO), and European Space Agency. This research contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2017 and 2018. The methane data processing was carried out on the Dutch national e-infrastructure with the support of SURF Cooperative. We would also like to thank David Lyon, Environmental Defense Fund, for stimulating discussions regarding the well blowout in Ohio and US O&G emissions. We also thank Anthony J. Marchese, Colorado State University, for sharing with us gas flow rate sensitivity calculations representative of the well blowout event. Earthworks is kindly acknowledged for making available the videos on the blowout event. Support for R.G. and S.P.H. was provided by the Robertson Foundation. This research is supported through the GALES (Gas Leaks from Space) project (Grant 15597) by the Dutch Technology Foundation, which is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and is partly funded by Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Netherlands. T.B., P.T., and T.K. are funded by the TROPOMI national program from the NSO. aSRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, 3584 CA, Utrecht, The Netherlands; bInstitute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, 3584 CC, Utrecht, The Netherlands; cEnvironmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010; dDepartment of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and eDepartment of Climate, Air and Sustainability, TNO, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Funders	Funder number
Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands
Netherlands Space Office
Colorado State University
European Space Agency
Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
Ministerie van Economische Zaken
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Air and Sustainability
Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen
Universiteit Utrecht
SURF Cooperative
Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut
TNO
Defense Fund
Robertson Foundation	Space, 15597
???publication-publication-funding-organisation-not-added???	639.072.309

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

Methane
Natural gas
Satellite remote sensing
TROPOMI
Well blowout

Access to Document

10.1073/pnas.1908712116

Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowoutFinal published version, 1.65 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

Persistent URL (handle)

Persistent link

Cite this

Pandey, S., Gautam, R., Houweling, S., Van Der Gon, H. D., Sadavarte, P., Borsdorff, T., Hasekamp, O., Landgraf, J., Tol, P., Van Kempen, T., Hoogeveen, R., Van Hees, R., Hamburg, S. P., Maasakkers, J. D., & Aben, I. (2019). Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowout. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 116(52), 26376-26381. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908712116

@article{4922b91d3ddb499c877497d63d9a0c28,

title = "Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowout",

abstract = "Methane emissions due to accidents in the oil and natural gas sector are very challenging tomonitor, and hence are seldomconsidered in emission inventories and reporting. One of the main reasons is the lack of measurements during such events. Here we report the detection of large methane emissions from a gas well blowout in Ohio during February to March 2018 in the total column methane measurements from the spaceborne Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). From these data, we derive a methane emission rate of 120 ± 32 metric tons per hour. This hourly emission rate is twice that of the widely reported Aliso Canyon event in California in 2015. Assuming the detected emission represents the average rate for the 20-d blowout period, we find the total methane emission from the well blowout is comparable to one-quarter of the entire state of Ohio's reported annual oil and natural gas methane emission, or, alternatively, a substantial fraction of the annual anthropogenic methane emissions from several European countries. Our work demonstrates the strength and effectiveness of routine satellite measurements in detecting and quantifying greenhouse gas emission from unpredictable events. In this specific case, the magnitude of a relatively unknown yet extremely large accidental leakage was revealed using measurements of TROPOMI in its routine global survey, providing quantitative assessment of associated methane emissions.",

keywords = "Methane, Natural gas, Satellite remote sensing, TROPOMI, Well blowout",

author = "Sudhanshu Pandey and Ritesh Gautam and Sander Houweling and \{Van Der Gon\}, \{Hugo Denier\} and Pankaj Sadavarte and Tobias Borsdorff and Otto Hasekamp and Jochen Landgraf and Paul Tol and \{Van Kempen\}, Tim and Ruud Hoogeveen and \{Van Hees\}, Richard and Hamburg, \{Steven P.\} and Maasakkers, \{Joannes D.\} and Ilse Aben",

year = "2019",

month = dec,

day = "26",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.1908712116",

language = "English",

volume = "116",

pages = "26376--26381",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)",

issn = "0027-8424",

publisher = "National Academy of Sciences",

number = "52",

}

Pandey, S, Gautam, R, Houweling, S, Van Der Gon, HD, Sadavarte, P, Borsdorff, T, Hasekamp, O, Landgraf, J, Tol, P, Van Kempen, T, Hoogeveen, R, Van Hees, R, Hamburg, SP, Maasakkers, JD & Aben, I 2019, 'Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowout', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), vol. 116, no. 52, pp. 26376-26381. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908712116

TY - JOUR

T1 - Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowout

AU - Pandey, Sudhanshu

AU - Gautam, Ritesh

AU - Houweling, Sander

AU - Van Der Gon, Hugo Denier

AU - Sadavarte, Pankaj

AU - Borsdorff, Tobias

AU - Hasekamp, Otto

AU - Landgraf, Jochen

AU - Tol, Paul

AU - Van Kempen, Tim

AU - Hoogeveen, Ruud

AU - Van Hees, Richard

AU - Hamburg, Steven P.

AU - Maasakkers, Joannes D.

AU - Aben, Ilse

PY - 2019/12/26

Y1 - 2019/12/26

N2 - Methane emissions due to accidents in the oil and natural gas sector are very challenging tomonitor, and hence are seldomconsidered in emission inventories and reporting. One of the main reasons is the lack of measurements during such events. Here we report the detection of large methane emissions from a gas well blowout in Ohio during February to March 2018 in the total column methane measurements from the spaceborne Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). From these data, we derive a methane emission rate of 120 ± 32 metric tons per hour. This hourly emission rate is twice that of the widely reported Aliso Canyon event in California in 2015. Assuming the detected emission represents the average rate for the 20-d blowout period, we find the total methane emission from the well blowout is comparable to one-quarter of the entire state of Ohio's reported annual oil and natural gas methane emission, or, alternatively, a substantial fraction of the annual anthropogenic methane emissions from several European countries. Our work demonstrates the strength and effectiveness of routine satellite measurements in detecting and quantifying greenhouse gas emission from unpredictable events. In this specific case, the magnitude of a relatively unknown yet extremely large accidental leakage was revealed using measurements of TROPOMI in its routine global survey, providing quantitative assessment of associated methane emissions.

AB - Methane emissions due to accidents in the oil and natural gas sector are very challenging tomonitor, and hence are seldomconsidered in emission inventories and reporting. One of the main reasons is the lack of measurements during such events. Here we report the detection of large methane emissions from a gas well blowout in Ohio during February to March 2018 in the total column methane measurements from the spaceborne Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). From these data, we derive a methane emission rate of 120 ± 32 metric tons per hour. This hourly emission rate is twice that of the widely reported Aliso Canyon event in California in 2015. Assuming the detected emission represents the average rate for the 20-d blowout period, we find the total methane emission from the well blowout is comparable to one-quarter of the entire state of Ohio's reported annual oil and natural gas methane emission, or, alternatively, a substantial fraction of the annual anthropogenic methane emissions from several European countries. Our work demonstrates the strength and effectiveness of routine satellite measurements in detecting and quantifying greenhouse gas emission from unpredictable events. In this specific case, the magnitude of a relatively unknown yet extremely large accidental leakage was revealed using measurements of TROPOMI in its routine global survey, providing quantitative assessment of associated methane emissions.

KW - Methane

KW - Natural gas

KW - Satellite remote sensing

KW - TROPOMI

KW - Well blowout

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85077331384

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85077331384#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1908712116

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1908712116

M3 - Article

C2 - 31843920

AN - SCOPUS:85077331384

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 116

SP - 26376

EP - 26381

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)

IS - 52

ER -

Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowout

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this