{"id":37051,"date":"2022-11-29T17:44:17","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T00:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-nasa-camera-spots-methane-super-emitter-in-new-mexico\/"},"modified":"2022-11-30T00:44:17","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T00:44:17","slug":"new-nasa-camera-spots-methane-super-emitter-in-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-nasa-camera-spots-methane-super-emitter-in-new-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"New NASA camera spots methane \u2018super emitter\u2019 in New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A methane plume 2 miles long detected by NASA\u2019s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation mission, southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico. (Image from NASA \/ JPL-Caltech)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

A news release from NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory about its new mineral mapping instrument on the International Space Station sent Oil Conservation Division (OCD) employees scrambling the last week in October.<\/p>\n

The notification, posted to science aficionados around the world, featured the agency\u2019s new ground-scanning camera and led with an image of a massive methane leak from what appears to be a gas well along the Pecos River, 10 miles southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico.<\/p>\n

In the image, the leaking plume stretches just over two miles due north, a roil of angry reds and blues reflecting different concentrations of the incredibly potent greenhouse gas. Those high concentrations are why the new instrument detected the event, which it wasn\u2019t exactly looking for.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation \u2013 known as EMIT \u2013 originally went to space to map minerals in this planet\u2019s deserts, part of an effort to understand how dust from these places affects the global climate. Methane detection is a bonus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not formally part of the mission as stated and as funded,\u201d said Andrew K. Thorpe, a research technologist at JPL who works on the project and has studied methane emissions for the past decade. \u201cI\u2019m just leveraging a small portion of the data that\u2019s already being collected as part of this other NASA mission, and mining it for the methane work.\u201d<\/p>\n

A news release from NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory about its new mineral mapping instrument on the International Space Station sent Oil Conservation Division (OCD) employees scrambling the last week in October.<\/p>\n

The notification, posted to science aficionados around the world, featured the agency\u2019s new ground-scanning camera and led with an image of a massive methane leak from what appears to be a gas well along the Pecos River, 10 miles southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico.<\/p>\n

In the image, the leaking plume stretches just over two miles due north, a roil of angry reds and blues reflecting different concentrations of the incredibly potent greenhouse gas. Those high concentrations are why the new instrument detected the event, which it wasn\u2019t exactly looking for.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation \u2013 known as EMIT \u2013 originally went to space to map minerals in this planet\u2019s deserts, part of an effort to understand how dust from these places affects the global climate. Methane detection is a bonus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not formally part of the mission as stated and as funded,\u201d said Andrew K. Thorpe, a research technologist at JPL who works on the project and has studied methane emissions for the past decade. \u201cI\u2019m just leveraging a small portion of the data that\u2019s already being collected as part of this other NASA mission, and mining it for the methane work.\u201d<\/p>\n

This new plume near Carlsbad was venting more than 40,300 pounds of methane an hour.<\/p>\n

In addition to the picture, NASA documented a one-hour release rate at that site that was far greater than the amount reported at the nearest well site for all of 2022. \u201cOCD immediately reached out to NASA for additional information and began investigating this as a possible major release when it became aware of the information,\u201d said Sidney Hill, spokesperson at the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, under which OCD operates. He said\u00a0that OCD inspectors were on the ground and investigating the area in the photo the day after they received the NASA news release.<\/p>\n

That notice and the colorful picture from Carlsbad were the first mentions of methane on the project\u2019s website, but finding the climate-warming gas wasn\u2019t totally unexpected. The EMIT instrument on the International Space Station is an updated version of a similar\u00a0project that mapped methane emissions across the Permian Basin in recent years.<\/p>\n

Thorpe said that this earlier project defined sites like the one near Carlsbad as \u201csuper emitters\u201d because of the phenomenal amounts of methane they release.<\/p>\n

In those earlier flights, he said, they detected emissions from wells and other equipment ranging from 22 to 44,000 pounds of methane per hour. The upper end of that range were the \u201csuper emitters.\u201d<\/p>\n

This new plume near Carlsbad was venting more than 40,300 pounds of methane an hour. Thorpe said, \u201cWe\u2019re confident in saying these are large emissions, and they are part of that \u2018super emitter\u2019 class.\u201d That class forms a small percentage of the overall number of emissions sites, but combined, their vast volumes contribute 40%-50% of methane emissions for a given area, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOCD understands that the NASA images indicate the point of estimated highest concentration at the time the image was captured but does not necessarily identify the specific source,\u201d Hill said. \u201cOCD reviewed the entire area around the plume. OCD is still reviewing the results of its on-the-ground investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overlaying the NASA image with OCD\u2019s online\u00a0Oil and Gas Map<\/a>\u00a0places the highest methane concentration atop\u00a0Harroun Com #001<\/a>, a well operated by Marathon Oil. Thorpe said the reading was made \u201cin the July, August time frame\u201d but he couldn\u2019t be specific about the date because of policies against releasing individual data points (like a single emission) before releasing a whole data set.<\/p>\n

Last year, OCD implemented new, statewide venting and flaring rules to reduce industry\u2019s natural gas emissions to less than 2% of total production by 2026. Producers must report all natural gas that comes out of the ground and account for all venting, flaring and other emissions so that what arrives at a pipeline equals what came out of the well.<\/p>\n

Failing to report an emission like the one in the NASA image can result in fines of up to $2,500 a day, according to Hill.<\/p>\n

Karina Brooks, a communications manager with Marathon Oil, said via an email statement, \u201cBased on our initial review of the data, including our wells in the area, it does not appear that our operations are the source(s) of the methane emissions reflected in the photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thorpe said that high methane concentrations like those at the center of the plume indicate the source of a leak, but \u201cthat being said, there is a little bit of ambiguity.\u201d The pixel size of the instrument\u2019s camera records squares 60 feet across, so it can\u2019t distinguish locations smaller than that. But the next closest well or other equipment is over 2,200 feet away from the plume\u2019s hot spot and the Marathon well.<\/p>\n

The release rate of 40,300 pounds of methane per hour documented by NASA is 5% more than the total venting reported to the state from Marathon\u2019s well for all of 2022 to date. It\u2019s an amount roughly equal to the greenhouse gas emissions of 100 cars driven for a year \u2013 being released into the atmosphere every hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will cooperate with the state agency to investigate the matter, which limits our ability to address [this] inquiry in detail at this time,\u201d Brooks said.<\/p>\n

Thorpe said the image is a snapshot in time due to the nature of\u00a0ISS\u2019s orbit, which is offset several degrees each time it races around the globe. It circles the Earth about 16 times a day, but because of the offset, it takes three days to fly over the same spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know if it was emitting before. We don\u2019t know if it was emitting after. But we know that we caught an emission at this location,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s terrifying it\u2019s that close,\u201d said Kayley Shoup, an organizer with the environmental and community group Citizens Caring for the Future. She lives in Carlsbad and worries about the associated gases that leak with methane and contribute to ozone and smog in the region and lead to respiratory problems.<\/p>\n

The EPA has indicated it may soon declare the Permian Basin an\u00a0ozone nonattainment zone\u00a0under the Clean Air Act, which would require stricter controls on oil and gas field emissions.<\/p>\n

Hill said that OCD is investigating the release to find the source, but could not comment further on a case that is still under review.<\/p>\n

And perhaps OCD should prepare for similar investigations in the future. Thorpe said that methane information from EMIT and other dedicated methane-tracking satellites that are scheduled to launch over the next two years will sharply increase the world\u2019s ability to find, pinpoint and measure oil and gas methane emissions. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be more examples, and it\u2019s going to be shared more frequently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s best interest to know about it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou give people data and hopefully they\u2019ll use it accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thorpe said that JPL plans to have a public data portal up and running early next year with all of the mission data. Shoup said she looks forward to having a new, online resource to document large methane emissions in her backyard. \u201cThat is really such wonderful news,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Capital & Main. It is republished at Source New Mexico with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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