USGS: Federal lands fossil fuel extraction emissions fell in 2005-14

Nov. 26, 2018
Estimated emissions from fossil fuel extraction on federal lands of the three main gases associated with climate change went down from 2005 to 2014, a US Geological Survey study released on Nov. 23 said.

Estimated emissions from fossil fuel extraction on federal lands of the three main gases associated with climate change went down from 2005 to 2014, a US Geological Survey study released on Nov. 23 said.

Releases of carbon dioxide fell 6.1% to 1,279 million metric tons over 10 years, it said. 2014 methane releases totaling an estimated 47.6 million tonnes of C02 equivalent were 10.5% lower than in 2005, while the 5.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent for nitrous oxides in 2014 was 20.3% less than 10 years earlier, the report noted.

It said that the estimates represent the first accounting of emissions from fossil fuels produced on federal lands as well as from their combustion and growing capture and sequestration. “The estimates included in this report can provide context for future energy decisions, as well as a basis to track change in the future,” it suggested.

Emissions from fossil fuels produced on federal lands represent, on average, 23.7% of national emissions for CO2, 7.3% for methane, and 1.5% for nitrous oxides over the 10 years included in this estimate, the study said.

Amounts did not include operations on American Indian tribal lands.

The USGS study’s data are consistent with both rising US production and the increased use of gas to generate electricity, an American Petroleum Institute spokesman told OGJ on Nov. 26.

“That increase has played the most significant role in achieving 30-year lows in carbon dioxide emissions from power generation that we see today,” he said. “America now leads the world in natural gas production – and gas output has doubled as overall methane emissions from the US gas system have fallen significantly – 16% – since 1990.”

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