Skip to main content

Around 2.6% of methane from natural gas production leaks into the atmosphere before it is used

Due to its volatile nature and the infrastructure challenges, methane can leak during the production, storage, and transportation processes. Methane that leaks before it is used is referred to as upstream and midstream emissions, or sometimes fugitive methane. Leaks occur because of aging infrastructure, improper maintenance, or mechanical failures. Tracking methane leaks is difficult and investments in better satellite monitoring are necessary to understand the full extent of the problem 1.

Recent peer-reviewed studies provide a wide range of estimates for upstream and midstream methane emissions. A 2022 paper published in The Magazine for Environmental Managers reviewed twelve peer-reviewed studies on upstream and midstream methane leakage, and found that estimates from these studies range from .2% to 40% of methane leaks 2. After removing the high-end outliers, the volume-weighted mean estimate is 2.6% 2.

Sources​

Footnotes​

  1. Crownhart, C. (2024, March 13). Methane leaks in the US are worse than we thought. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/03/13/1089725/methane-leaks-oil-gas/ ↩

  2. Howarth, R. W. (2022). Methane emissions: From leaks to policy. The Magazine for Environmental Management. https://www.research.howarthlab.org/documents/Howarth2022_EM_Magazine_methane.pdf ↩ ↩2