Reducing methane emissions

Overview

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and the main component of natural gas. It comes from sources like fossil fuel extraction, wetlands, livestock digestion and landfills.

Alberta is showing global leadership to reduce methane because it traps heat in the atmosphere 28 times more effectively than carbon dioxide. This can increase global temperatures, affect ecosystems, weather patterns and sea levels, and can contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, which can harm human health and damage crops and forests.

Reducing methane emissions:

• improves air quality by lowering ground-level ozone, reducing health risks
• enhan­ces energy efficiency by addressing leaks, saving costs
• provides economic benefits by creating jobs in energy efficiency and emissions control
• protects the environment, preserving ecosystems and biodiversity

Alberta’s methane leadership and performance

Alberta was the first oil and gas producing jurisdiction to put requirements on emissions from flaring, starting in the early 1990s, and the first regional government in North America to set a methane emissions reduction target for the oil and gas sector.

The province committed to reducing these emissions by 45% from 2014 levels by 2025 and reached that target 3 years early. As of 2023, Alberta has reduced emissions from 2014 levels by 52%. Alberta’s approach to reducing methane emissions from flaring, venting and fugitives is an international best practice, and has won national and international awards.

Alberta’s proven and effective approach to methane emissions reductions includes provincial regulatory requirements for new and existing facilities and improving leak detection and repair, incentives to act early through carbon offsets, and programs to support enhancements in monitoring, reporting and reducing emissions.

This is saving industry money and keeping them competitive. Alberta’s approach is estimated to have cut the cost in half for industry when compared to the federal system.

Our practical approach has led the world, and we will continue using a combination of regulations, market-based incentives and programs to sustain this progress – all while continuing to improve methane measurement and reporting.

We will continue working with industry, technology and service providers, non-governmental organizations and others to reduce methane emissions to help reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

Methane versus carbon dioxide

Methane is much more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat, but stays in the atmosphere for a shorter time. Methane primarily comes from energy production and agriculture, while carbon dioxide results mainly from fossil fuel combustion and deforestation. Reducing methane has a quicker impact on addressing global emissions, while reducing carbon dioxide is crucial for longer-term emissions reduction goals.

Methods and provincial management

Flaring

Flaring is the burning of natural gas that cannot be processed or sold, usually through a flare stack. In Alberta, flaring is used to manage excess gas during oil production or when infrastructure for gas transport is unavailable.

Alberta’s government regulates flaring to minimize environmental impacts, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure gas is managed efficiently and effectively.

Venting

Venting is the release of natural gas directly into the atmosphere without burning. In Alberta, venting occurs during oil and gas production when gas is expelled as a by-product or during equipment maintenance.

Alberta’s government regulates venting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate environmental impacts, encouraging practices that capture and utilize the gas instead.

Fugitives

Fugitive emissions are unintentional leaks of gases, such as methane, from equipment or infrastructure. In Alberta, fugitive emissions often occur in oil and gas operations, from valves, flanges and other components.

Alberta’s government monitors and regulates these emissions to minimize environmental and health impacts, promote efficient gas use and meet climate targets.

Flexible and effective regulations

Alberta has flexible and effective regulations designed to:

• demonstrate Alberta’s global leadership as a sustainable oil and gas producers
• meet global standards for stronger market access
• provide global credibility and certainty of emissions reductions

Methane is regulated in Alberta through the Alberta Energy Regulator’s Directive 060: Upstream Petroleum Industry Flaring, Incinerating, and Venting and Directive 017: Measurement Requirements for Oil and Gas Operations. Legislated through Alberta’s Methane Emission Reduction Regulation, these directives allow Alberta to maintain jurisdiction over methane emissions, avoiding federal regulations though an equivalency agreement.

The directives were developed with input from industry, technology development and research institutions, environmental non-government organizations and the public. The directives address common sources of methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas industry including:

• pneumatic devices which use compressed gas to operate equipment such as valves and pumps in drilling, production and processing operations
• fugitive emissions, which are unintentional releases of methane
• equipment and solution gas venting, which is the intentional release of methane and other gases

The directives also include changes to measurement, monitoring and reporting of methane emissions to support improved understanding and tracking of oil and gas methane emissions.

To complement the regulatory approach to methane reduction, Alberta continues to use innovative non-regulatory programs not required by law and market-based tools such as financial incentives to reward projects that reduce methane emissions.

A strong measuring system

Alberta's methane measurement system features a robust and advanced Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) framework. While the federal system is still in development, Alberta’s MRV system is already in place, providing the best data currently available through a start-of-the-art reporting platform. This framework enables the use of the latest technology and innovative methods to enhance accuracy and precision. This proactive approach not only strengthens regulatory compliance and environmental stewardship, but also reinforces Alberta’s leadership in emissions reductions and resource management, positioning the province at the forefront of the oil and gas sector.

Methane measurement is extremely complex. There is no universally accepted standard on how methane emissions are measured, but there are 3 general ways to approach it:

• Direct: Using technology such as optical leak imaging, laser leak detectors and others to quantify an emission at a component, equipment or site level on a volumetric or mass basis.
• Parametric: Using pressure, temperature, flow rate, control efficiency, or other operational or equipment-specific characteristics to inform engineering calculations or computer simulations to quantify the emission source.
• Emission factor: Using standardized emission factors for specific equipment to estimate the quantity of methane released from the emission source on a volumetric or mass basis. These factors come from inventories or databases, but are not verified through direct quantification.

Methane emission sources must be measured at least once each year using direct, parametric or emission factor measuring and reported into either Petrinex, OneStop or both. The table below summarizes the methane emission source, the quantification method and the frequency for reporting:

Alberta has an effective monitoring system that uses a combination of bottom-up and top-down measurement, monitoring and verification techniques to ensure our methane emissions inventory is as accurate as possible. This includes both aerial surveillance led by the Alberta Energy Regulator and effective facility inspections on the ground. The Alberta Energy Regulator’s methane performance page contains information regarding audits and inspections for methane emissions.

Bottom up measurement, monitoring and verification

This method involves estimating emissions by starting at the source level. This approach looks at specific sources like individual oil and gas wells and then measures or estimates how much each source releases. These measurements are added up to estimate the total emissions for a given area. Bottom-up methods rely on ground-based sensors, equipment checks, and calculations based on known emission factors.

Top-down measurement, monitoring and reporting

This method starts from a broad scale or area measurement, but can be as narrow as site or even source level. It involves measuring the total amount of methane in the atmosphere over an area using tools like satellites, airplanes, mounted continuous monitors, or even truck mounted monitors and then models are used to estimate where the methane is coming from within that area based on different kinds of data.

Methane emissions reduction progress

The chart below outlines the methane emissions (a combination of reported data and estimates) from 2014 to 2022 and forecasts to 2025. These reductions are the result of the requirements of Directive 060 and complementary programs. With a baseline methane emissions inventory in 2014 of 31.9 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalents, Alberta has reduced methane emissions by 52% to 15.3 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2023.

The methane emissions are established through data reported to the AER and estimates. Estimates supplement reported data to present a more complete picture of upstream oil and gas methane emissions by including emission sources without reporting requirements.

The evaluation excludes oil sands mining and upgrading emissions due to the significant difference in sources (primarily mine face and tailings ponds), control measures and abatement costs. Oil sands mining and upgrading methane emissions are regulated through the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Regulation.

Methane emissions intensity is a measure of how much methane is released per unit of production. Lowering intensity means producing the same amount of energy with fewer emissions.

The methane reduction requirements are a significant change to how industry manages and reports methane emissions from the conventional upstream oil and gas sector. To improve understanding and ensure compliance, the following activities are carried out annually by the Alberta Energy Regulator:

More than 1,300 compliance assurance activities were conducted by the Alberta Energy Regulator in 2022.

Successful market-based reduction programs

Alberta’s incentives are helping reduce methane emissions.

In Alberta, companies can earn credits if they reduce their emissions at their non-regulated facility or beyond what is regulated at their regulated facility. These credits can be traded with other companies and can used by regulated facilities to comply with the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regulation.

• Non-regulated facilities that voluntarily reduce emissions can earn emission offsets.
• Regulated facilities that reduce emissions beyond what is required can earn emission performance credits.

Emission offsets are measured using approved methods, called quantification protocols, and are verified by an independent third party. Two emission offsets are available to help address methane emissions in the oil and gas sector:

• converting existing pneumatic equipment to highly efficient options (such as low-bleed pneumatic controllers)
• reducing vent gas reductions (gas that is released into the atmosphere that can instead be captured)

As new methane regulations come into effect between now and 2025, Alberta’s emissions offset protocols will be updated to continue encouraging emission reductions through projects that exceed actions required by law. Learn more about Alberta’s Emission Offset System.

Driving technology and innovation

Enabling technology, innovation and fundamental scientific research are key to Alberta’s approach to methane reduction and emissions performance. Since 2019, more than $78 million in provincial funding has been invested into technologies and programs to monitor, measure and reduce methane emissions.

Alberta’s government uses funds from the industry-funded TIER system to provide continued support for methane technology and innovation approaches across the oil and gas sector. Through these programs, Alberta reviewed almost 15,000 wellsites and facilities across the province, and prevented nearly 17 million tonnes of emissions from being released.

Current programs

• Alberta Methane Emissions Program: $17 million to support investigating and testing alternative approaches to detection and quantification of fugitive and vented emissions.
• The NGIF Emissions Testing Centre Program: Platform offered to cleantech startups to accelerate the commercialization of methane emissions measurement, monitoring and mitigation technologies through testing and validation.
• Emissions Reduction Alberta and Alberta Innovates: Continue to support various methane emission detection and reduction projects.

Past programs

Examples of past incentive programs include:

• Methane Technology Implementation Program through Carbon Connect International: $25 million to support installation of readily-available methane reduction technologies at conventional oil and gas facilities.
• Baseline and Reduction Opportunity Assessment Program through Carbon Connect International: $15 million to support small and medium-sized oil and gas operators to conduct detailed assessments of methane reduction opportunities and fugitive emissions.

Resources

• Methane Emission Reduction Regulation

Related

• Alberta Energy Regulator Directives
• Alberta Emission Offset System
• Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Regulation
• Baseline and Reduction Opportunity Assessment Program
• Alberta Methane Emissions Program
• Emissions Reduction Alberta
• Alberta Innovates