EPA seek to bring GHG tracking to oil & gas sector

GHG Tracking

Folks in the oil and gas industry should expect mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting requirements to be rolled out in their direction pretty soon, that's if the US Environmental Protection Agency gets its way.

Operations including capturing carbon beneath the ground and gas flaring will all be affected by the EPA's proposal. "Gathering this information is the first step toward reducing greenhouse emissions and fostering innovative technologies for the clean energy future," says EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

"It's especially important to track potent gases like methane, which traps more than 20 times as much heat as carbon and accelerates climate change.

"Once we know where we must act, American innovators and entrepreneurs can develop new technologies to protect our atmosphere and fight climate change," added Lisa P. Jackson.

Mandatory GHG reporting

As of January 2011, 31 industries will fall under GHG tracking regulation but as yet the oil and gas industry has avoided inclusion because the importance of the sector's operations have been considered too vital for regulation to jeopardize its progress.

However, for effective emission policies to be implemented it is vital to have a clear understanding as to exactly where America's GHGs are coming from, and data entered into the new reporting system can make this happen, says Jackson.

The EPA finalized the first-ever mandatory GHG reporting requirement in October of 2009. The 31 industry sectors cover 85 percent of total US greenhouse gas emissions, according to EPA. Methane is the primary greenhouse gas emitted from oil and natural gas systems and is more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere.

A danger to progress

Tracking the industries that inject and store carbon under the ground will provide the EPA with invaluable data that would otherwise remain unknown, but this cannot be done without getting the oil and gas sector on board.

EPA says data collected will also allow businesses to track their own emissions, compare them to similar facilities and identify cost effective ways to reduce their emissions in the future. However oil and gas companies are notoriously opposed to such centralized data monitoring as they feel such activity can seriously hinder the nations progress in the global commodities market at a time when nations like Russia and China continue to expand their overseas oil and gas assets.

The EPA has its work cut out.

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Daniel Jones

Daniel is a Politics and Philosophy graduate from Cardiff University where he also worked as a section editor on the award winning student newspaper. After university he joined an IT support company where he was a B2B online writer. He loves anything to do with sport and joined GDS in July 2009.

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