What does a refurbished jet have to do with gas emissions in Shreveport-Bossier? Read on.

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• By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN | Staff writer

Launching the latest technology in the fight to limit global warming started with removing shag carpets and wood paneling.

Scientists with the Environmental Defense Fund, Harvard University and the Smithsonian worked together to develop MethaneAir, an airplane outfitted with imaging spectrometers designed to measure methane emissions in Earth's atmosphere, and it could be flying over Shreveport-Bossier City soon.

For the project, researchers refurbished a 1970s private jet owned by a fossil fuels tycoon, replacing dated décor with sensors, screens and control boards. The jet was primarily used by the tycoon's wife to take shopping trips all around the world, according to the EDF’s senior communications director Jon Coifman.

"That's the story as it was told to me," Coifman said. "There's definitely a 'swords to ploughshares' element to all of this."

Commentators have called the project a "security camera for the planet."

MethaneAir will focus on pinpointing methane emissions in the atmosphere above areas where large amounts of natural gas are produced, including the Haynesville shale which covers northwest Louisiana and east Texas. Methane is the main chemical component of natural gas and has a potent greenhouse warming effect when emitted into the atmosphere. The chemical is a more dangerous driver of global warming than carbon dioxide in the short term because methane molecules have more than 80 times the warming power of CO2 over the first 20 years that they're in the atmosphere, according to EDF legislative and regulatory affairs senior director Jon Goldstein.

"There are far too many molecules of methane that are escaping from oil and natural gas infrastructure today. We know that, the industry knows that and state and federal regulators know that," Goldstein said. "It's leading to anywhere from a quarter to a third of the warming we're already experiencing. For states like Louisiana that are already feeling the effects of a warming climate, cutting methane is incredibly important."

While scientists have known about the warming potential of methane for years, the amount of methane that’s being emitted into the atmosphere in a given year had been underestimated, Goldstein said. A 2021 study by a team of researchers at Penn State found that the EPA’s methane emission estimates underreported emissions of the chemical by 60%. Provisions in last year’s federal Inflation Reduction Act have led the EPA to revise its methane emissions reporting standards to be more comprehensive.

MethaneAir is meant to serve as a precursor to MethaneSAT, a satellite set to launch in 2024 which will use the same imaging technology to measure methane emissions on a greater scale. Data from MethaneAir’s first flights will be available to the public in August, Coifman said. Making more detailed information about methane emissions available will help the industry, watchdog groups and regulators work quickly to find solutions.

"That data will lead to emissions reductions," Goldstein said. "We've seen that in our work in the Permian, where we've collected data and made it publicly available. Anecdotally, a number of operators have reported to us that the problems we pointed out were things that they then went to fix and led to less pollution."

Methane emissions don’t just accelerate global warming, they run up quite a tab for Louisiana. A study commissioned by the EDF and public spending watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense found that over $82 million worth of natural gas leaked from Louisiana's onshore well sites and pipelines in 2019.

"It is incredibly cost effective to go after methane," Goldstein said. "Keeping it in the pipeline means that there's more product the industry has to sell."

The study found that Louisiana producers had leaked 27 billion cubic feet of methane, in that year alone. Last year, a leak at an Energy Transfer LP pipeline in Bienville Parish sent 8.2 million cubic feet of methane into the atmosphere after a gathering line ruptured.

While industrial activity is the biggest driver of methane emissions, poorly managed defunct well sites also contribute to Louisiana’s manmade methane emissions, as they are a common source of leaks, according to LSU environmental sciences professor emeritus Edward Overton.

“They used to just close them up, give them a kiss goodbye and be done with it,” Overton said.

Coifman said that people in an area like northwest Louisiana whose local economy is intertwined with the natural gas industry should know that advances that help limit methane emissions don't just fight climate change but will also support regional producers’ ability to meet the sustainability demands of a global marketplace.

“States like Louisiana want to be in the export business,” Coifman said. “We know that Europe and other big import markets are concerned about climate footprint and are moving towards weighing the upstream impacts of emissions in the supply chain before a product crosses their border because of both public policy and private sector purchase agreements.”

While the energy business is massive and diverse in attitudes and approaches towards emissions, some natural gas producers have already been striving to be proactive in handling their methane emissions. Chesapeake Energy, who operates seven active gas rigs across northwest Louisiana, overhauled their methane detection protocols in 2021 when the company emerged from bankruptcy. The company has cut its methane emissions by 50% since it began using handheld detectors and other emissions monitoring equipment at its drill sites and pipelines, according to Chesapeake Energy chief sustainability officer Usha Turner.

“Being an energy producer, we understand that it is just expected of us that we do so responsibly," Turner said. "Making sure that we are doing our part in reducing our environmental footprint is part of being a responsible operator."

Getting a handle on methane emissions has also been a goal of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.

“Actively managed methane emissions” was one of eight key goals identified by the governor’s climate task force in 2022 as necessary for getting Louisiana to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Last March, Edwards’ Department of Natural Resources proposed a new rule that would ban natural gas operators from routinely venting and flaring at well sites, a practice in which operators burn and release excess natural gas. The study commissioned by the EDF and Taxpayers for Common Sense found that venting and flaring on its own wasted over $16 million in leaked gas across the state in 2019.

The value of industry working with scientists and regulators is massive, Goldstein said. Since methane has such a potent warming effect in the short term, it wouldn't take long for the environment to begin feeling the benefits of getting methane emissions under control, Goldstein said.

“It's a really, really powerful way to bend the curve on the problem in the short term, in our lifetimes," Goldstein said. 

Email Brendan Heffernan at Brendan.Heffernan@TheAdvocate.com or follow him on Twitter, @HeffTheReporter.