Mitigating Climate Change Due to Methane From Natural Gas
Originally published in Enbridge's 2022 Sustainability Report
Methane
In order for natural gas to contribute to the energy transition effectively, it’s vital that the industry continue to advance its current work to mitigate methane emissions associated with natural gas production and transmission. Methane is a primary component in natural gas and a contributor to climate change. As one of North America’s largest energy infrastructure companies, Enbridge moves about 20% of all natural gas consumed in the U.S. and operates North America’s third-largest natural gas utility by customer count, delivering service to about 15 million people in Ontario and Quebec. We believe natural gas has a critical role to play in the transition to a low-carbon economy—both by replacing emissions intensive fuels such as coal and as a reliability-enhancing complement to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
While natural gas is inherently much cleaner than other fuels such as coal, Enbridge and others across the industry are pursuing opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from natural gas even further. By continuing to adopt innovations and enhance the infrastructure, technology and monitoring instruments we use, natural gas providers can help society achieve the greatest possible benefit from this important fuel while minimizing contributions to climate change.
As part of our commitment to reducing GHG emissions and supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy, Enbridge is working to reduce methane emissions across our operations. In 2022, our methane emissions were about 23% lower than they were in 2018, our baseline year.
This section of our 2022 Sustainability Report presents an overview of how and why our operations release methane emissions, describes our efforts to mitigate these emissions, and shares our perspective on regulations and industry initiatives to reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere through oil and gas operations.
Methane 101
What is methane?
Methane, the main component in natural gas, is odorless, colorless, lighter than air and slightly soluble in water. Easily ignited, methane generates carbon dioxide (CO2) and water when it’s burned. In addition to being a potent GHG, methane is the primary contributor to ground-level ozone.
Why is reducing methane emissions so important to climate change mitigation?
Analysis from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) concludes that a 45% reduction in global methane emissions by 2030 is essential to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.
Methane breaks down in the atmosphere more quickly than CO2, meaning its effects are less persistent than those of CO2. However, for as long as methane remains in the atmosphere its effects are powerful: during an initial 20-year period after release, methane has more than 80 times the warming power of CO2. This powerful warming effect causes experts to believe that cutting methane emissions is critical to mitigating climate change.
According to the IEA Methane Tracker, methane has been responsible for about 30% of the global warming that has occurred since pre-industrial times. Although some methane emissions occur naturally, a large share of today’s methane emissions come from human activities, including the production and use of fossil fuels (see graphic).
Sources of methane emissions Some methane emissions occur naturally, arising from sources such as wetlands. But most methane emissions released over the past two centuries have been produced by human activity (~60%), including agriculture and the production of energy from coal and fossil fuels.
Methane emissions at Enbridge: how and why
Most of our methane emissions are related to operations associated with natural gas transmission or equipment maintenance operations that are necessary to ensure the safety of our natural gas infrastructure. A small share of our methane emissions are unplanned—arising from relatively rare occurrences such as emergency shutdowns or third-party damage to our pipelines. Enbridge is working to reduce GHG emissions wherever and however they occur. Below is an overview of how emissions can happen and what we’re doing to mitigate them.
Safety operations
To perform maintenance on natural gas pipelines, crews sometimes need to depressurize segments of pipe, resulting in “blowdowns.” In the past, maintenance often meant releasing natural gas into the atmosphere. Enbridge has been expanding our use of equipment and procedures that let us minimize or prevent blowdowns. We’ve already reduced emissions from this source substantially and our goal is to continue to mitigate or avoid methane emissions during planned maintenance.
Equipment design
Some equipment vents a relatively small volume of methane as part of its normal operations. We have maintenance practices in place to minimize such emissions. In addition, we’re using a combination of equipment replacements and retrofits to further reduce methane emissions from equipment originally designed to vent.
Inefficiencies
As infrastructure ages, it can become less efficient, gradually releasing small quantities of methane. To mitigate emissions from this source, we monitor our infrastructure proactively with approved detection methods and respond as quickly as possible to any leaks we identify. Our asset risk group uses analytics to identify equipment that may be at elevated risk of failure so we can replace it before emissions occur.
Third-party damage
We have safety procedures to protect pipeline integrity when Enbridge teams perform work near our pipeline infrastructure. However, on occasion, underground pipes are damaged through thirdparty digging—when people excavating in the area have not identified the location of key pipeline infrastructure. (Emissions from this source account for a very small proportion of our total methane emissions.) We take many steps to educate customers, suppliers, neighbors, and the general public about this risk.
Enbridge’s work to reduce methane emissions from our operations
Enbridge has a comprehensive plan to reduce our GHG emissions intensity by 35% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 (see pages 16–19). Reducing our methane emissions is one aspect of our work to meet those overall targets. Below we describe a few examples of our efforts.
Modernization and innovation: examples from across our operations
We’re working to mitigate or eliminate emissions from all the causes laid out on page 21. Here are a few recent cases of effective approaches:
We have been working to mitigate vented methane releases during equipment maintenance and project construction, including expanded use of blowdown recovery system to capture the gas from planned blowdowns and return gas from depressurized equipment back into the system (see page 21 for information on blowdowns). In 2022, Gas Transmission and Midstream (GTM) used mobile recompression units 40 times, avoiding over 200,000 tonnes of CO2e relative to traditional pipeline integrity practices. Currently, Gas Distribution and Storage (GDS) has blowdown recovery compressors located at its compressor stations along the Dawn-Parkway system in southwestern Ontario.
Another example of avoiding and reducing emissions happened in GTM when we needed to replace three large pipelines in Tennessee in 2022. The increasing proximity of residential development to our right-of-way meant that the infrastructure had become subject to elevated safety standards. During the construction phase of the pipeline replacement, the work could have led to substantial methane emissions by necessitating extensive blowdown.
By using stopple bypass technologies and recompression operations, Enbridge was able to replace the three pipelines while keeping its blowdown emissions near zero, saving 9,760 tonnes of CO2e. GTM also increased the use of AtlasWrap, an engineered, high-stiffness carbon fiber material that lets us reinforce the operational strength of pipelines. Using mitigation measures like recompression, stopples, and AtlasWrap enables Enbridge to perform maintenance while minimizing or eliminating the amount of natural gas blown down in the pipeline section when repairs are needed.
Enhancing data quality with measured data specific to our operations
Gaining a clear picture of how and where methane emissions happen is an essential part of emissions reduction efforts, because accurate detection and measurement help industries target their mitigation efforts at the most important sources.
Developing high-quality measurement and monitoring tools and programs is a complex technical challenge. Enbridge continues to monitor the development of methane detection and monitoring technologies and engage in active discussions in this area with vendors and technology providers. We are receptive to partnerships focused on the development, piloting and deployment of enhanced tools, as well as to research collaborations that lay the foundations for such tools. As we explore innovations that will give us an even more precise understanding of our emissions, we continue to engage with industry bodies and regulators to keep pace with leading practices that rely on today’s approved tools. Given the limitations of current technologies, Enbridge, like other natural gas companies, relies in many areas on engineering estimates and calculations designed to support evidence-based decision-making in the near term.
One recent noteworthy initiative in our pursuit of enhanced emissions monitoring was our voluntary survey of methane emissions from dry gas seals across our U.S. gas transmission operations. Dry gas seals are pieces of mechanical equipment associated with centrifugal compressor systems. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not currently require reporting of methane emissions from dry gas seals but in 2021, Enbridge took a first step toward estimating our emissions from these sources by applying Canadian emissions factors to our U.S. infrastructure. More recently, our GTM business unit went even further, beyond the U.S. regulatory requirements, carrying out a comprehensive dry gas seal measurement survey and reporting emissions from these sources.
Although our work to develop a comprehensive and precise understanding of methane emissions across our operations is active and ongoing, the rigor and quality of our current measurements have enabled us to obtain limited assurance on our methane data from third-party auditors since 2021.
Measurement and monitoring: challenges and approaches
Enbridge operates natural gas infrastructure with thousands of compressor stations and meter/valve stations across vast distances in Canada and the U.S. Some of this equipment is in remote locations and difficult to access. We invest heavily in our capacity to detect and respond as quickly as possible to any issues that may emerge across these systems, including tiny leaks. Each of our business units has developed leak detection and repair protocols specific to its systems and equipment in order to identify and limit unplanned methane emissions. We use various technologies to detect our methane emissions, including Optical Gas Imaging cameras, handheld “sniffer” gas detectors, and AVO (audio, visual and olfactory) inspections.
Enbridge continues to explore and adopt new technologies to help us detect and address methane leaks, especially in remote locations. Currently, no single technology offers a perfect solution for monitoring emissions across large areas like those in Canada and the U.S.—but we continue to partner and innovate in pursuit of enhanced tools and approaches.
The table on the right offers an overview of some of the tools we have deployed or are in the process of evaluating.
We are committed to improving our emissions, and our gas transmission team is focused on and incentivized to reduce methane that could be vented to the atmosphere. Our compensation is tied to performance, including annual goals to reduce both the intensity and the number of events where methane could be emitted. In 2022, our Enbridge gas transmission team mitigated or avoided over 65% of gas volumes from pipeline blowdowns—the emissions savings from that are equivalent to CO2 emissions from over 35,000 homes’ annual energy use!
Erin Petkovich, Director, Low Carbon Strategy
Policymakers and industry: North American efforts to reduce methane emissions
In North America, there is broad agreement among the oil and gas industry and policymakers about the importance of reducing the industry’s methane emissions. Voluntary efforts to reduce methane emissions have been growing in North America, including in the oil and gas sector, for well over a decade. These voluntary efforts have focused on shared measurement and reporting standards in support of overall emissions reduction initiatives. At the same time, regulators in both Canada and the U.S. have proposed stringent rules—a trend that is ongoing and expected to result in increasingly exacting regulations in the years ahead.
Public policy
Enbridge supports efficient, effective methane regulation on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. We believe the most effective path to achieving meaningful reductions in emissions is to focus on practical, cost-effective regulations that target the sources of the highest methane emissions.
In Canada, Enbridge adheres to federal Methane Emissions Reduction policies. These policies stipulate that leak detection surveys occur on a regular basis and that detected leaks be repaired within a specified time. Canada’s methane regulations also include equipment-level emission limits for pneumatic devices and compressor seals/rod packing. The federal government recently released a proposed framework document for amendments to the methane regulations that would expand requirements regarding vented and fugitive emissions related to the oil and gas sector in Canada. Enbridge has informed the development of Canada’s methane regulations by providing feedback to governments through direct submissions and by participating in advocacy convened by industry groups such as the Canadian Gas Association.
In the U.S., methane regulations are also expected to become more stringent. Drafts and proposals from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2021 and 2022 have included measures such as:
- requiring compressor stations to monitor and repair leaks at least monthly
- requiring a transition to zero-emission pneumatic controllers
- new standards for new and existing dry seal compressors (previously unregulated)
Forthcoming regulations are expected to support innovation in advanced methane detection technologies, to permit flexibility in the tools firms use to monitor and detect emissions, and to require pipeline operators to minimize methane emissions across their pipeline systems.
To inform regulators like the EPA on proposed rules, Enbridge participates in the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America’s (INGAA) GHG committee and in the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Climate Policy Subcommittee. To shape technically sound regulations that achieve reductions in methane emissions, Enbridge has informed comments from industry groups on several federal methane rules. As we participate in these processes, our goal is to share insight from our own emissions measurement practice and to identify ways to ensure that emissions inventories in the oil and gas sector are comprehensive. These steps will help to ensure that the industry’s emissions reduction efforts are as effective as possible.
Voluntary efforts
Canada and the U.S. are both signatories to the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), an initiative launched at COP26 in 2021, through which countries commit to taking voluntary action to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030, relative to a 2020 baseline. Since signing the GMP, Canada’s federal government has deepened its commitment, announcing the goal of reducing oil and gas methane emissions by at least 75% by 2030 relative to a 2011 baseline.
Enbridge is a member of the ONE Future coalition—a group of more than 55 natural gas companies that collectively represent more than 20% of the natural gas value chain in the U.S. Formed in 2016, this group set out to reduce member companies’ methane emissions intensity to less than 1%—meaning that for a given volume of natural gas, at least 99% should move from the rig to the burner tip while less than 1% is lost in the process of delivering it. With respect to transmission and storage specifically, the dimensions relevant to Enbridge’s work, the intensity target is 0.3%. Enbridge joined the ONE Future coalition in 2019, and our emissions relative to our overall value chain have consistently been within ONE Future’s target. In 2021, our methane intensity was 0.028%, based on Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) throughput.
We sponsor and support Veritas, GTI Energy’s Methane Emissions Measurement and Verification Initiative, a gas measurement and verification protocol. This initiative brings together a wide range of stakeholders, including scientists, environmental organizations and industry groups, to develop a consistent and credible approach to quantifying and verifying methane emissions.
We are a member of API’s The Environmental Partnership (TEP), a group of about 100 U.S.-based oil and natural gas companies (representing more than 70% of the U.S. onshore oil and natural gas industry) focused on identifying and adopting solutions to enhance environmental performance that “are technically feasible, commercially proven and will result in significant emissions reductions.” TEP operates six distinct environmental performance programs, advancing goals such as reducing flaring and replacing gas-driven pneumatic controllers with low-emissions or zeroemissions devices. Among other activities, Enbridge participates in TEP’s Methane Measurement and Monitoring Working Group.
Enbridge is also actively exploring the possibility of joining the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0). OGMP is a voluntary multi-stakeholder initiative launched in 2015 and designed to help oil and gas companies reduce methane emissions, starting with the development of a measurement-based reporting framework for the oil and gas sector. Companies that join this voluntary initiative commit to reporting on all material sources of methane across their value chain, including assets they operate and those they don’t operate. The OGMP’s methodology was designed in 2014 in partnership with industry, government, and civil society as part of the UNEP-led Climate and Clean Air Coalition’s (CCAC’s) Mineral Methane Initiative (MMI). Since the OGMP was launched, the methane landscape has changed considerably, with growing numbers of industry players recognizing the importance and urgency of mitigating methane emissions. Created in November 2020, OGMP 2.0 is an even more ambitious and comprehensive reporting framework than the 2014 version that directly connects reporting activity to strategic mitigation actions. The partnership has developed an aspirational goal of reducing methane emissions by 45% by 2025, relative to a 2015 baseline. The coalition aims to go further by 2030, reducing emissions by 60% to 75%.
The OGMP’s reporting framework lays out five levels of reporting quality—with 1 being the least detailed and company-specific and 5 being the most detailed, comprehensive and specific (for example, measured data directly from a company’s infrastructure). Part of the commitment companies make in joining the OGMP is to achieve “Gold Standard” methane reporting within three years: achieving level 4 or 5 across all reporting categories. Enbridge has engaged with the OGMP to discuss some of the technical considerations that are unique to our midstream operations. We have also begun to use the OGMP’s five-level framework to evaluate the current state of our methane emissions measurement and reporting. As part of this evaluation process, Enbridge conducted a self-assessment to evaluate our current reporting approach against OGMP 2.0 methodology.
Enbridge’s work to reduce methane emissions outside our operations
In addition to mitigating methane emissions from our conventional natural gas operations, Enbridge is making investments in renewable natural gas (RNG)—and thus helping to address other important sources of methane emissions outside of the natural gas value chain, including landfills and agriculture. In Ilderton, Ontario, we’ve embarked on an innovative partnership with a facility that transforms on-farm and community-based organic waste into RNG, a carbonneutral fuel. To create RNG, producers capture “biogas” emissions from organic waste, landfills and wastewater treatment plants, and then upgrade the gas into pipeline-quality fuel. Enbridge is connecting the RNG production facility in Ilderton to the energy grid, blending the facility’s fuel into Enbridge’s existing storage and distribution network using an innovative RNG injection station. This arrangement will enable more homes, businesses and vehicle fleets to access RNG—diverting more than 60,000 tonnes of community-based organic waste each year and eliminating more than 11,000 tonnes of GHG emissions annually.
South of the Canada-U.S. border, Enbridge has launched a partnership with Vanguard Renewables that will also help to support adoption of RNG. Under the partnership, Vanguard, a leading developer of RNG infrastructure, will build and operate digesters used to convert food and farm waste into RNG, while Enbridge will invest in the upgrading equipment that will turn RNG into pipelinequality natural gas. In addition to investing in new RNG infrastructure at eight sites across the U.S. (a total investment of about $75 million), Enbridge will also help transport and sell the upgraded natural gas to large multinational companies with aggressive decarbonization goals.
