Print PageThough natural gas has been gaining steam as a “clean,” more climate-friendly alternative to coal, natural gas still has significant negative climate and public health impacts. A recent study from Boston University highlights the impacts of methane emissions from the region’s antiquated natural gas pipeline infrastructure. Not only do leaking pipelines pose a threat to public safety, they are estimated to release between 8 and 12 billion cubic feet of methane (the main constituent of natural gas) annually in Massachusetts alone. Yet, current state and federal policies actually provide disincentives for pipeline owners to aggressively find and fix these leaks. In addition, there is no centralized, reliable system for calculating the actual amount of “Lost and Unaccounted for Natural Gas”[1] that escapes from the distribution pipelines.
I have reviewed the data reported to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities to compare the estimates of how much methane is being lost through leaks in the system. The DPU figures show emissions from methane leaks around 3.6 million CO2e tons as compared to 697,000 CO2e tons for DEP reports. I have also reviewed DPU dockets regarding a mechanism known as a “targeted infrastructure recovery factor” (“TIRF”) which allows gas companies to recover capital costs for the replacement of certain types of pipelines on a yearly basis rather than waiting for a full rate case.
Results/Conclusions
I conclude that working with utilities to develop expanded TIRFs could provide a mechanism to reduce methane leaks and create more accurate accounting of the amount of GHGs from the system. I will discuss existing TIRFS and how they are working as well as the types of features that should be considered in designing a TIRF to maximize its impact on reducing GHG impacts and creating a more accurate leak inventory.
[1] ”Lost and Unaccounted for Natural Gas” is a term used by industry and the federal government that refers to annual mismatches between measured natural gas inputs to the transmission and distribution system, and the sum of end-user consumption of natural gas: http://bit.ly/rgbIrK. These mismatches vary from year to year, but were nearly 13 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2008 and 2009 (Energy Information Administration (EIA), Form EIA-176, “Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and Disposition), which correspond to 6-8% of Massachusetts’ total greenhouse gas inventory.
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