New Industry Report Demonstrates Continued Progress in Reducing Methane Emissions
Natural Gas Coalition Beats Methane Intensity Goal by 57.9%
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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November 13, 2023 – Our Nation’s Energy Future (ONE Future), a coalition of more than 50 natural gas companies taking action to reduce methane emissions, today released its annual reporting of methane intensities. The coalition, which has released aggregated data on methane emissions across its membership for six years, recorded its 2022 methane intensity at 0.421%, beating its 1.0% goal by 57.9%. As of this year, ONE Future member companies operate in 25 out of the 38 production basins and have operations in 48 out of the 50 states.
“Once again, our member companies have together surpassed our target for reducing methane intensity through a science-based, performance-focused approach that raises the bar for the industry and serves as a model for environmental performance,” said ONE Future Executive Director Jim Kibler. “While this data demonstrates strong progress, we are focused on the future and are committed to raising the bar even higher through further collaboration across the industry, engagement with policymakers and investment in advanced detection, monitoring and measurement technologies to track and eliminate more emissions than ever before.”
ONE Future is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Methane Challenge Program and has been recognized by the agency for its ambitious commitments. Coalition members have made important progress by replacing or retrofitting pneumatic controllers, implementing various Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) leak survey and leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs, and performing aerial leak surveys to identify methane slip due to combustion, among other initiatives. In the year ahead, ONE Future will continue to advocate for and invest in efforts to improve emissions management technologies and enhance the measurement and reporting of methane emissions.
As part of ONE Future’s commitment to increased transparency and accuracy of measurement, the coalition substantially invests in GTI Energy’s Veritas Initiative, a standardized, science-based, technology-neutral, measurement-informed approach to calculating and reporting methane emissions. In the summer of 2023, several member companies conducted demonstration projects to test newly released protocols to improve consistency and credibility in emissions measurement and calculations.
ONE Future member companies in five segments across the natural gas value chain achieved the following 2022 methane intensity results in comparison to their baseline goals:
- Production: The 2022 methane intensity was 0.133%, surpassing the goal of 0.283% by 53.0%. ONE Future’s member companies contributed to 23% of U.S. natural gas production in 2022.
- Gathering and Boosting: The 2022 methane intensity was 0.077%, exceeding the segment’s goal of 0.080% by 3.8%. ONE Future’s member companies collected or treated 48% of U.S. natural gas in 2022.
- Processing: The 2022 methane intensity was 0.028%, exceeding the segment’s goal of 0.111% by 74.8%. ONE Future’s member companies processed 31% of U.S. natural gas in 2022.
- Transmission and Storage: The 2022 methane intensity was 0.088%, surpassing the segment’s goal of 0.301% by 70.8%. ONE Future’s member companies accounted for 61% of transmission pipeline mileage across the U.S. in 2022.
- Distribution: The 2022 methane intensity was 0.095%, surpassing the segment’s goal of 0.225% by 57.8%. ONE Future’s member companies delivered 42% of the natural gas that powered the U.S. in 2022.
View the coalition’s annual reporting here.
About ONE Future: ONE Future was formed when seven companies came together in 2014 with a focus to collectively achieve a science-based average rate of methane emissions across our facilities equivalent to one percent or less of total natural gas production. Since our formation, we have grown to more than 50 companies accounting for some of the largest natural gas producers, transmission, and distribution companies in the U.S. ONE Future members operate in 25 out of the 38 production basins and have operations in 48 out of the 50 states. Therefore, ONE Future’s data represent a geographically diverse and material share of the U.S. natural gas supply chain. For more information visit onefuture.us.
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