PROJECTS
METHANE ACROSS CANADA
Oil and gas developments and landfills across Canada are emitting unwanted greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. Our team can detect the presence and origin of these emissions.
xCANADA – METHANE
Landfills
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is presently writing regulations that will drive methane reductions in the solid waste sector. ECCC uses a model to estimate methane emissions as a function of different solid waste management activities, but the model has only been validated with measurements at select sites. Measurements at more sites will help underpin regulation as it is being crafted and target appropriate mitigation measures.
Cue our ambitious team, who, in 2022, are collecting ground-based measurements of methane emissions at over 100 unique landfill sites in Canada on-site and off-site via public roads. Our surveys campaigns are vehicle-based, using advanced spectrometers capable of ppb-level sensitivity.
We are also conducting aerial measurements at select sites of interest. We have experience conducting aerial mass balance methane measurements in Canada’s offshore industry, and will conduct orbital flights of increasing altitude (carrying a Cavity Ringdown Analyzers and 3D meteorological measurement suite) over a subset of our survey sites, using the TERRA approach for quantification.
To increase landfill measurements at different scales and collect additional layers of site data, we are actively engaging with GHGSat (Satellite), National Centre for Earth Observation (Satellite), HALO-CoMet 2.0 Arctic Misson (Satellite), and Environmental Defense Fund (aerial).
Oil and Gas Developments
U.S.-based studies have shown that measured energy sector methane emissions (vented, fugitive, flare) are higher than government estimated inventories suggest, in part because of occasional “super-emitters”. In Canada, measurements are sparse, and more work is needed quantify an emissions baseline. What is the distribution of super-emitters in Canadian developments? What types of infrastructure emit? At what rate, and at what persistency? Are some developments worse than others?
Policymakers, operators, and NGOs want answers to these questions, so we strung together a ‘xCanada’ emissions measurement initiative, composed of several geographically-defined projects. We received support from about 25 partner companies, regulators, government departments, NGOs, and university partners, who all want to reduce methane quickly and sensibly. The funding breakdown: Industry 26%, Industry-Government 52%, Government 7%, Non-Governmental Organizations 15%.
For visuals, watch this film. A specialized computing process allowed us to detect small anomalies and to undertake back-trajectory analysis to define the point of emission. We covered a lot of ground quickly between 2016 and 2018, and sampled thousands of wells within a development – much faster than industry’s own tools. We also took a scientific approach that included repetitions, control routes, and defined Minimum Detection Limits (MDLs); all which helped quantify uncertainties and build data products we can trust. We have published several papers from that work (listed under the Outcomes tab) including a paper on CH4 inventory in western Canada, and a paper on Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) governance in Alberta. You can also croll down for more links, data, and media.
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As our trucks covered well over 100,000 km, we were collecting on the order of millions of geolocated gas concentration measurements.
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Our analyzers measured the concentrations of several gases every second. We designed special algorithms to crunch the data.
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Regional monitoring surveys like this allow us to pin-point sources contributing to poor air quality, and greenhouse emission hotspots.
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Equipped-vehicle based surveys cover a large region at a very fine scale. We repeat all our surveys at least 3 times for certainty.
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The gases we are detecting are typically a mixture of methane, which is bad for the greenhouse effect and in smaller amounts carbon dioxide. There can also be toxic gases such as hydrogen sulfide.
QUESTIONS WE ASKED:
Does the frequency of vents and fugitive emissions depend on well class? Well age? Operator size? At what rate is the infrastructure emitting?
Field work – now complete
We have conducted extensive emissions monitoring surveys through upstream oil and gas developments in British Columbia (Montney region of Dawson Creek and Fort St. John), Alberta (Medicine Hat x2; Peace River x2; Lloydminster x3; Red Deer; Rocky Mountain House), Saskatchewan (Bakken; Weyburn-Midale), and New Brunswick (Stoney Creek x2). Maps to the right show driving routes on off-lease roads that we repeated 3-6 times, often over varying seasons. In each development we have repeatedly (2-6 times) sampled air downwind and within 500 m of 1000-3000 wells and facilities. We measure geolocated concentrations of several gases (methane, ethane, hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide, carbon isotopic composition of methane), wind speed and direction, temperature, and GPS location data in real-time at one second intervals while we survey.
Analytical procedure
Once back in the lab, we related the gas plumes we measured on-road to upwind infrastructure sources using a geospatial database. Our datasets were robust due to high sample numbers, high degree of replication, the use of control routes as ‘blanks’, and the defined minimum detection limits (high sensitivity). To enhance certainty, we tagged infrastructure as ‘emitting’ only if we have detected anomalies on over than half of the survey passes. Our analysis was broken down into two phases. Phase I was used to define; emissions frequency (e.g. wells emitting / wells existing); severity; emissions frequency as a function of infrastructural class, development type, or operator size. Our Phase II analysis products included more refined volumetric inventory estimates, product loss rates (as % of production), and/or methane emissions intensity of oil production. In both phases our focus was on large-scale industry trends. We did not release operator-specific statistics because our sampling routes were determined largely by road access, and we did not design the routes for representative sampling across operators.
Outcomes
There was five important publications from this work:
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- Montney: This first Phase I analysis manuscript was published as a D-paper in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The good news is that super-emitters were uncommon, but the bad news is that we measured emissions more frequently that we expected (about half of well pads), resulting in an emission estimate above the provincial inventory. A ground study using FLIR cameras and bagging/volumetric measurement (the industry-standard technique) was conducted in parallel with the mobile surveys, and although sampled populations were slightly different, statistics were comparable between the mobile and FLIR methods. This study was sponsored by the David Suzuki Foundation.
- Alberta: This Phase II manuscript published in Elementa compared methane emissions across three contrasting oil and gas developments in Alberta where air issues have been common in recent years. This study was supported by industry. A follow-up study conducted in fall 2017 was made possible through a NSERC CRD grant. This study suggested government estimates of infrastructure affected by incoming regulations may be conservative.
- Saskatchewan: This Phase II manuscript contrasted emission patterns in the Bakken (unconventional) and Weyburn-Midale (conventional, EOR) oilfields. This is an interesting comparison because the developments are intermixed, contractors are the same, and differences are a result in either extraction mode or operator profile. The manuscript was published in 2019 in the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. Emission occurrences and emission rates were substantially lower in comparison to other recent emission studies in Canada and the United States. This study was supported by a combination of industry, government, and a local non-governmental airshed organization.
- Synthesis: This synthesis paper (2021) applied a more advanced volumetric modelling approach for an industry-wide Canada emissions snapshot. We contrasted developments by metrics like loss rate (gas) and/or methane emissions intensity (oil). The results were published in Scientific Reports. We learned that emissions varied by fluid type and geographic region, with the heavy oil region of Lloydminster ranking highest on both absolute and intensity-based scales. Emission intensities varied widely for natural gas production, where older, low-producing developments such as Medicine Hat, Alberta showed high emission intensities, and newer developments in Montney, British Columbia showed emission intensities that are amongst the lowest in North America. Overall, we estimated that the Canadian upstream oil and gas methane inventory is underestimated by a factor of 1.5, which is consistent with previous studies of individual regions.
- Environmental, Social, and Governance : This study published in 2022 in Cleaner Environmental Systems showed us that methane intensity varied widely among Canadian oil and gas producers and that regulatory submissions comprised only a fraction of emissions. Fifty one percent of Canadian oil and gas producers did not publish ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) reports. Standardizing ESG reports would improve comparability and reputability.
These datasets offer significant opportunities for re-analysis. In the future we hope to investigate the episodic nature of emissions, summer-winter emission contrasts, and to highlight low-emitting developments, etc. These are all in the pipeline for early 2019. In addition to the above, we’ve also made measurements at seneral oil sands operations, Carbon Capture and Storage sites, legacy wells, and coal operations/shafts in eastern Canada.
Media Coverage
Report: Canada’s methane emissions higher than estimated. Global News. May 22, 2021.
Canada not getting an accurate account of methane emissions. National Observer. May 17, 2021.
Canada not getting an accurate account of methane emissions. Toronto Star. May 17, 2021.
Canada’s methane emissions are likely undercounted, and that makes them harder to cut. CBC. April 15, 2021.
With more than 150,000 kilometre already logged, the mobile Flux Lab keeps trucking. University Affairs. 4 October 2018.
FluxLab Marking 10 Years in the Southeast. Discovery Weyburn. 8 August 2018.
Heat Mapping Old Coal Mines to Test for Methane Emissions. Global News. 11 August 2017.
Research sheds light on dark corner of B.C.’s oil and gas industry. The Coast. May 3 2017.
New report challenges use of fracked gas as ‘clean’ transition fuel. Conservation Council of New Brunswick. May 1, 2017.
Scientists discover high volume of methane emissions at BC oil and gas facilities. Global News. April 25, 2017.
Methane pollution from BC’s oil, gas industry higher than provincial estimates. The Globe and Mail. April 25, 2017.
New reports say Canada’s oil, gas methane emissions higher than previously thought. Toronto Star. April 26, 2017.
CAPP rejects findings in methane emissions reports. The Globe and Mail. April 26, 2017.
Scientists Find Methane Pollution from B.C.’s Oil and Gas Sector 2.5 Times What B.C. Government Reports. DeSmog Canada. April 26, 2017.
Reports say oil and gas methane emissions higher than previously thought. Calgary Sun. April 26, 2017.
‘Staggering’: Canada’s oil sector creates far more methane than thought, study finds. Halifax Metro News. April 26, 2017.
BC, Alberta methane pollution higher than disclosed, reports suggest. CBC. Apr 26, 2017.
New science reveals unreported methane pollution from B.C.’s oil and gas industry threatens Canada’s international climate commitments. David Suzuki Foundation Press Release. April 26, 2017.
Oil and gas methane emissions more than twice B.C. government figures: report. Montreal Gazette. April 26, 2017.
Des émissions de méthane revues à la hausse dans deux rapports. L’actualité. April 26, 2017.
Reports say oil and gas methane emissions higher than previously thought. CityNews. April 26, 2017.
Study shows methane released by oil and gas operations in BC higher than reported. Energeticcity.ca. April 26, 2017.
Reports say oil and gas methane emissions higher than previously thought. CTV News. April 26, 2017.
Reports say oil and gas methane emissions higher than previously thought. TBNewsWatch. April 27, 2017.
Reports say B.C. oil and gas methane emissions higher than previously thought. Vancouver24hrs. April 27, 2018.
New studies: Methane emissions from Canadian oil & gas industry are worse than reported. Environmental Defence Fund Energy Exchange Blog. April 27, 2017.
Oil and gas methane emissions higher than thought: report. PLANT. April 27, 2017.
New study finds much higher methane release from oil and gas fracking. Radio Canada International. April 27, 2017.
Reports say oil and gas methane emissions higher than previously thought. Yahoo Finance. April 27, 2017.
Canada’s Methane Leakage Massively Under-reported, Studies Find. TheTyee.ca. April 27, 2017.
Reports say oil and gas methane emissions higher than previously thought. LocalExpress. April 27, 2017.
Come on Canada. Carbon Pulse (subscription). April 27, 2017.
Methane emissions in Canada’s oil and gas sector. AM770 Radio. April 28, 2017.
Methane detection? There’s an app for that: Mobile sensor arrives just in time for new federal oil-and-gas-sector methane regulations. Business in Vancouver. March 21, 2017.
St. Francis Xavier University licenses mobile gas leak detection technology. June Warren Nickels Energy. February 14, 2017.
StFX professor, students searching for gas leaks. Casket Newspaper Antigonish. September 18, 2015.
CBC Radio (Main Street), CTV Television (Breakfast Television with Heidi Petracek) – Gas detection campaigns launching – September 2015.
