methane gas level News

After eight years of near-zero growth in atmospheric methane concentrations, levels have again started to rise. 'This is not good news for future global warming,' says CSIRO's Dr Paul Fraser, who co-authored a paper to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysccical Union. 'Over recent years, the growth of important greenhouse gases, namely methane and the ...

Oct. 30, 2008

By Environmental News Network (ENN)

At the UK's first viable compact anaerobic digester (AD) plant aimed at local food waste treatment, a Geotech GA3000 fixed biogas analyser monitors methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), oxygen (O2) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S). The plant, a modular scalable AD system, unveiled by React Environmental in July 2012 at Llangadog, Carmarthenshire, can handle some 1,000 ...

May 18, 2013

By Geotech

Despite an increase in methane-generating activities, such as drilling for fossil fuels, researchers have found that the amount of methane concentrations in the atmosphere have dropped over the past few decades, according to Climate Central. A team of atmospheric chemists have investigated and attribute this phenomenon to significantly diminished methane leakage from oil and gas wells. ...

Sep. 4, 2012

By EMSL Analytical, Inc.

You can read the entire press release here. However, here are some of the major take-a-ways U.S. oil production is at the highest level in nearly 30 years, and the U.S. is also now the largest natural gas producer in the world.  The reason for all the attention ...

Jan. 16, 2015

By Catalytic Products International (CPI)

Scientists searching for an explanation for high levels of the potent greenhouse gas methane in the oceans have discovered a new means of production, which could explain the source of previously unaccounted for methane. The discovery has great significance for understanding the ocean's role in global warming. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that has contributed approximately 20 per cent to the ...

Aug. 1, 2008

By European Commission, Environment DG

Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a total of $13 million that will be awarded to twelve, multi-year research projects intended to develop cost efficient and effective ways to mitigate methane emissions from natural gas pipeline and storage infrastructure. Methane is not only a primary component of natural gas, it is also a major greenhouse gas, which is a potential ...

Sep. 22, 2016

By Cochrane & Associates, LLC

The Centre for Carbon Measurement at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is leading a European consortium to develop and test new methane measurement instruments for shale gas extraction, municipal waste water treatment plants and gas distribution. The consortium includes Cuadrilla Resources, Veolia Environnement and National Grid. Climate-KIC, Europe's largest public-private innovation ...

Jan. 20, 2014

By National Physical Laboratory (NPL)

The Republic of Poland officially has requested to become a member of the international Methane to Markets Partnership. Poland would join the ...

Dec. 1, 2006

By US EPA - Environmental Protection Agency

Before landfill regulations were implemented, there was no way for various levels of government to monitor waste disposal. Individuals and companies were dumping waste in non-designated areas with total disregard for safety or the environment. To add to the problem, the locations that were selected for dumping waste were landfills far from the boundaries of their own communities in order to ...

Apr. 18, 2013

By EnviroSolutions, Inc. (ESI)

A new study published in the journal Science says that the total impact of switching to natural gas depends heavily on leakage of methane (CH4) during the natural gas life cycle, and suggests that more can be done to reduce methane emissions and to improve measurement tools which help inform policy choices. Published in the February 14 issue of Science, the study, ...

Feb. 18, 2014

By National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

The Obama administration is proposing to cut methane emissions from U.S. oil and gas production by nearly half over the next decade in an unprecedented step to curb climate change. The administration's target is to cut methane from oil and gas drilling by 40 to 45 percent by 2025, compared to 2012 levels. The move was not unexpected - officials set the same goal in a preliminary blueprint in ...

Aug. 18, 2015

By Associated Press

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade and Technical Press release, 30 September 2011 By utilizing the indigenous and naturally occurring methane gas from Lake Kivu, both economic and environmental targets can be met. ...

Sep. 30, 2011

NEW YORK - The main greenhouse gases have reached their highest levels recorded since pre-industrial times, according to the World Meteorological Organization's 2009 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. The report also highlights concerns that global warming may lead to even greater emissions of methane from Arctic areas. According to the Bulletin, total radiative forcing of all ...

Nov. 25, 2010

By World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Tests of 75 private drinking water wells in Lycoming County, in north-central Pennsylvania, found water from most of the sampled wells contained concentrations of radon that exceeded a proposed, nonbinding health standard for drinking water. Smaller percentages of the wells contained concentrations of arsenic or methane that exceed existing drinking water standards. The US Geological ...

Mar. 7, 2017

By U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

New research in Pennsylvania demonstrates that it's hard to nail down how often natural gas drilling is contaminating drinking water: One study found high levels of methane in some water wells within a half-mile of gas wells, while another found some serious methane pollution occurring naturally, far away from drilling. The findings represent a middle ground between critics of the drilling ...

Jun. 24, 2013

By Associated Press

The Obama administration is putting the energy industry on notice that it intends to curb methane emissions by nearly half through regulations affecting oil and gas production. A broad, preliminary plan - expected to be unveiled this week - aims to cut emissions 40-45 percent by 2025 compared with 2012 levels. Reductions are to come from a mix of voluntary steps by industry and regulations from ...

Jan. 13, 2015

By Associated Press

A pair of papers in Groundwater®, NGWA's bimonthly technical publication, finds a high level of methane in water wells from two Texas counties is most likely from shallow natural gas deposits, not natural gas leaks caused by hydraulic fracturing operations in the underlying Barnett Shale.  The research builds on previous studies on well water quality in the Barnett Shale ...

Mar. 16, 2017

By National Ground Water Association (NGWA)

A recent study that looked at groundwater samples from more than 200 wells across New York State found levels of naturally-occurring methane high enough to warrant monitoring or other actions in nine percent of the water samples tested, according to U.S. Geological Survey research. While 91 percent of samples tested found no dissolved methane, or levels below the threshold that would require ...

Aug. 9, 2016

By U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

For the first time, greenhouse gas data are accessed easily on a new CSIRO website. The site shows the levels of greenhouse gases measured in the Southern Hemisphere atmosphere for the past 35 years. Observed greenhouse gas concentrations – as measured by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology at Cape Grim, Tasmania – can be easily explored by members of the public. ...

Jun. 20, 2011

By CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Methane is a colorless, odorless and extremely flammable gas. In its gas form, it is an asphyxiant that in high concentrations may displace a person’s oxygen supply, especially in confined spaces. Decreased oxygen can cause suffocation and loss of consciousness. Exposure can also cause headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting and loss of coordination. ...

Jun. 20, 2016

By Zimmetry Environmental