NSF Award
1717142
1508994(Bohrer) & 1509297(Matthes)<br/><br/>Production of natural gas from deep subsurface shale formations in the US has increased considerably in the last decade due to the advancement in drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology. In 2010, shale gas accounted for 23% of annual dry natural gas supply in the US, with projections that this capacity will increase to 48% by 2035. There are large economic advantages of shale gas development, including reliance on domestic production due to the abundance of natural gas in the US and the improved air quality when using natural gas compared with the combustion of gas and coal. This project will examine fugitive emissions, those not controlled in the production well, in a life cycle analyses of the greenhouse gas footprint that include the hydrofracking extraction and production processes.<br/><br/>The development of shale gas resources in the United States is predicted to grow steadily over the next twenty years, however there is large uncertainty surrounding the quantity and mechanisms of fugitive methane emissions released to the atmosphere from these activities. The large range among methane measurements from different hydrofracking sites suggests that fugitive emissions may be largely preventable and are dependent on the practices of the drill and well operators. This project will provide a much needed and timely set of baseline and fugitive methane emission measurements before and during hydrofracking operations that will quantify and identify the sources of methane emissions released during different components of the drilling and gas extraction operations process. This will fill a critical knowledge gap that will inform the development of effective management strategies and operations practices to minimize methane emissions and improve the overall greenhouse gas benefits of natural gas. This project will: (1) Quantify baseline and fugitive methane emissions during hydrofracking by collecting continuous landscape-scale methane flux measurements; (2) Identify biological and geological sources of methane emissions by measuring continuous atmospheric fluxes of 13C isotopes in methane; (3) Attribute measured methane fluxes to different components of the hydrofracking process by using a footprint model and advanced large eddy simulations to isolate flux sources in space and time. This project will leverage ongoing collaboration with the Ohio State University Shale Energy and Environment Field Laboratory (SEEL), which will provide the site access to drilling operations and information about the management practices and operations timeline will be provided through the SEEL partnership with the drill and well operators. The PIs will partner with the Ohio State University (OSU) Extension Office to develop online and print resources and forums for the general public describing the effects of shale gas development on local and regional air and water quality. They will also work with OSU Extension to transfer results from this project to hydrofracking practitioners who could use information regarding drill pad management practices to effectively reduce fugitive methane emissions. The PIs will share the developed products with West Virginia University and Extension, with whom they extensively collaborate on shale gas development issues. Furthermore, they will leverage existing outreach relationships with the Ohio Water Resources Center to present the work related to this project at a water luncheon organized with the Water Management Association of Ohio, and at a separate seminar to state agency representatives. A graduate student will be trained in observation and modeling methods for methane fluxes during this project. This project will also train undergraduate students from the Dartmouth Women in Science Program in fieldwork and data analyses to develop honors theses from this research.
