Air emissions

Recently, global climate change and air quality have become increasingly important environmental concerns. Consequently, there has been a rise in collaborative international efforts to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), occuring naturally and as the result of human activity. Criteria pollutants include emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and total unburned hydrocarbons. International and national governments are implementing more regulations on air emissions. Drilling contractors can play an important role in environmental stewardship by reporting carbon emissions from drilling operations, eliminating redundant emission measurements, and leading the industry in efforts to reduce these emissions.

Methane emissions

Rapid worldwide expansion of natural gas developments and use in recent years is drawing attention to the need to improve understanding of methane emissions associated with natural gas. New production technologies and practices, including those involving hydraulic fracturing, necessitate a thorough review of existing quantification methods for fugitive methane emissions from venting, flaring, and equipment leaks associated with natural gas systems and operations.

In the past few years, a broad variety of estimates have emerged regarding methane emissions from the United States natural gas industry sector. Some discrepancies noted by industry surveys have led to a thorough review of newly available information that is leading to the improvement of estimation methods and emission factors associated with activities that comprise natural gas systems. This has manifested itself in the engineering estimations that are used for compiling the U.S. GHG Inventory and in the methods used by companies for reporting under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.

Carbon emissions

Carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels has been on the incline since the industrial era; and with more than 85% of the world’s energy coming from fossil fuels, it will remain an important energy source well into the future. As the demand for fossil fuels is growing, so is the volume of CO</span>2emitted each year. This has led to concerns over the impact of CO2emissions on global climate change. Sequestration is one option that is gaining interest to stabilize and reduce the concentration of CO2.