The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) keeps a watchful eye on Mother Earth from space. Their instruments have recorded a troubling hot spot of the potent greenhouse gas methane over the four corners area of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah that spans about 2,400 square miles (6,500 square kilometers). The NASA and University of Michigan study of satellite data indicates the methane “hot spot” is more than triple the previous ground based estimates.
Hydraulic fracturing has been tied to methane releases, but not this release. The study period began before the widespread use of fracking. It’s actually more troubling in some ways because it shows the hard to detect odorless, colorless gas has been steadily leaking from natural gas production equipment in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin.
Natural gas is mostly methane. Coalbed methane lines the pores and cracks in coal deposits. It’s a deadly gas responsible for fatal explosions in coal mines, but techniques have been developed to harvest it as fuel. Coal bed methane supplies a portion of American natural gas.
The study’s lead author - Eric Kort, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - noted, “The results are indicative that emissions from established fossil fuel harvesting techniques are greater than inventoried. There’s been so much attention on high-volume hydraulic fracturing, but we need to consider the industry as a whole.” Just one more reason to transition off fossil fuel as a primary energy source.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/09oct_methanehotspot/