Relevant methane emission to the atmosphere from a geological gas manifestation

AbstractQuantifying natural geological sources of methane (CH4) allows to improve the assessment of anthropogenic emissions to the atmosphere from fossil fuel industries. The global CH4 flux of geological gas is, however, an object of debate. Recent fossil (14C-free) CH4 measurements in preindustrial-era ice cores suggest very low global geological emissions (~ 1.6 Tg year−1), implying a larger fossil fuel industry source. This is however in contrast with previously published bottom-up and top-down geo-emission estimates (~ 45 Tg year−1) and even regional-scale emissions of ~ 1–2 Tg year−1. Here we report on significant geological CH4 emissions from the Lusi hydrothermal system (Indonesia), measured by ground-based and satellite (TROPOMI) techniques. Both techniques indicate a total CH4 output of ~ 0.1 Tg year−1, equivalent to the minimum value of global geo-emission derived by ice core 14CH4 estimates. Our results are consistent with the order of magnitude of the emission factors of large seeps used in global bottom-up estimates, and endorse a substantial contribution from natural Earth’s CH4 degassing. The preindustrial ice core assessments of geological CH4 release may be underestimated and require further study. Satellite measurements can help to test geological CH4 emission factors and explain the gap between the contrasting estimates.

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Global geological methane emissions: An update of top-down and bottom-up estimates

Elem Sci Anth ◽

10.1525/elementa.383 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Giuseppe Etiope ◽

Stefan Schwietzke

Keyword(s):

Ice Cores ◽

Mud Volcanoes ◽

Polar Ice ◽

Top Down ◽

Bottom Up ◽

Area Distribution ◽

Flux Measurements ◽

Fossil Fuel Industry ◽

Fuel Industry ◽

Volcanic Manifestations

A wide body of literature suggests that geological gas emissions from Earth’s degassing are a major methane (CH4) source to the atmosphere. These emissions are from gas-oil seeps, mud volcanoes, microseepage and submarine seepage in sedimentary (petroleum-bearing) basins, and geothermal and volcanic manifestations. Global bottom-up emission estimates, ranging from 30 to 76 Tg CH4 yr–1, evolved in the last twenty years thanks to the increasing number of flux measurements, and improved knowledge of emission factors and area distribution (activity). Based on recent global grid maps and updated evaluations of mud volcano and microseepage emissions, the global geo-CH4 source is now (bottom-up) estimated to be 45 (27–63) Tg yr–1, i.e., ~8% of total CH4 sources. Top-down verifications, based on independent approaches (including ethane and isotopic observations) from different authors, are consistent with the range of the bottom-up estimate. However, a recent top-down study, based on radiocarbon analyses in polar ice cores, suggests that geological, fossil (14C-free) CH4 emissions about 11,600 years ago were much lower (<15 Tg yr–1, 95% CI) and that this source strength could also be valid today. Here, we show that (i) this geo-CH4 downward revision implies a fossil fuel industry CH4 upward revision of at least 24–35%. (ii) The 95% CI estimates of the recent radiocarbon analysis do not overlap with those of 5 out of 6 other bottom-up and top-down studies (no overlap for the 90% CI estimates). (iii) The contrasting lines of evidence require further discussion, and research opportunities exist to help explain this gap.

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Drilling for the future: Gendered justifications of the Arctic fossil fuel industry

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s003224742000042x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 56 ◽

Author(s):

Sohvi Kangasluoma

Keyword(s):

Fossil Fuel ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

The Arctic ◽

Public Marketing ◽

Oil And Gas Fields ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Fossil Fuel Industry ◽

Fuel Industry ◽

Gas Fields ◽

Opening Up

Abstract Despite the global alarm caused by accelerating climate change, hydrocarbon companies are exploring and opening up new oil and gas fields all over the world, including the Arctic. With increasing attention on the Arctic, companies address the growing global environmental pressure in their public marketing in various ways. This article examines the webpages of Norwegian Equinor and Russian Gazprom & Gazprom Neft. Building on feminist discussions, I analyse the different justification strategies these fossil fuel companies working in the Arctic utilise in order to support their ongoing operations. This article concludes that in order to justify their operations in the Arctic, the Norwegian and Russian companies emphasise values based on discourses that have historically and culturally been associated with masculine practices, such as the control of nature enabled by technology. These justifications are thus reinforcing the narrative of the Arctic as a territory to be conquered and mastered. Even though the companies operate in different sociopolitical contexts, the grounds of justification are rather similar. Their biggest differences occur in their visual presentations of gender, which I argue is part of the justification. Approaching the fossil fuel industry from a feminist perspective allows questioning the dominant conceptualisations, which the justifications of Arctic hydrocarbon companies are based on.

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A Voice for Change? A Network Analysis of Equity Ownership in Canada’s Fossil Fuel Industry

Academy of Management Proceedings ◽

10.5465/ambpp.2021.15984abstract ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (1) ◽

pp. 15984

Author(s):

Truzaar Dordi ◽

Olaf Weber

Keyword(s):

Network Analysis ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

Equity Ownership ◽

Fossil Fuel Industry ◽

Fuel Industry

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Choosing among Implausible Leaders

Survival Governance ◽

10.1093/oso/9780197534755.003.0002 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 24-54

Author(s):

Peter Drahos

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

European Union ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

The United States ◽

Driving Mechanism ◽

Wall Street ◽

System P ◽

Energy Union ◽

Fossil Fuel Industry ◽

Fuel Industry

China is an implausible leader for the globalization of a bio-digital energy paradigm, but the United States and European Union are even less plausible candidates. The chapter shows how the fracking revolution has turned the United States into an energy-secure fossil fuel superpower. No US president can close down the fossil fuel industry. The New Green Deal is unlikely to have much impact on US politics and is only of modest interest to Wall Street. The European Union’s Energy Union initiative is important. But the European Union’s leadership of the bio-digital energy paradigm is hampered by the different energy and industrial interests of its members. Despite China’s corruption problems, it is the least implausible leader of an energy revolution. China’s improved standard-setting capacities are outlined. The chapter concludes by discussing China’s pressure-driving mechanism, a distinctive tool of governance that allows China to overcome problems of fragmentation in its system.

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Multiradionuclide evidence for an extreme solar proton event around 2,610 B.P. (∼660 BC)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1815725116 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 116 (13) ◽

pp. 5961-5966 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Paschal O’Hare ◽

Florian Mekhaldi ◽

Florian Adolphi ◽

Grant Raisbeck ◽

Ala Aldahan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ice Core ◽

Ice Cores ◽

Solar Proton ◽

Solar Proton Event ◽

Proton Event ◽

Production Rates ◽

Cosmogenic Radionuclides ◽

Solar Event ◽

Carbon 14 ◽

Order Of Magnitude

Recently, it has been confirmed that extreme solar proton events can lead to significantly increased atmospheric production rates of cosmogenic radionuclides. Evidence of such events is recorded in annually resolved natural archives, such as tree rings [carbon-14 (14C)] and ice cores [beryllium-10 (10Be), chlorine-36 (36Cl)]. Here, we show evidence for an extreme solar event around 2,610 years B.P. (∼660 BC) based on high-resolution10Be data from two Greenland ice cores. Our conclusions are supported by modeled14C production rates for the same period. Using existing36Cl ice core data in conjunction with10Be, we further show that this solar event was characterized by a very hard energy spectrum. These results indicate that the 2,610-years B.P. event was an order of magnitude stronger than any solar event recorded during the instrumental period and comparable with the solar proton event of AD 774/775, the largest solar event known to date. The results illustrate the importance of multiple ice core radionuclide measurements for the reliable identification of short-term production rate increases and the assessment of their origins.

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Did TV ads funded by fossil fuel industry defeat the Washington carbon tax?

Climatic Change ◽

10.1007/s10584-019-02626-z ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 158 (3-4) ◽

pp. 301-307

Author(s):

Steven M. Karceski ◽

Nives Dolšak ◽

Aseem Prakash ◽

Travis N. Ridout

Keyword(s):

Fossil Fuel ◽

Carbon Tax ◽

Fossil Fuel Industry ◽

Fuel Industry

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Climate and wartalk: Metaphors, imagination, transformation

Elem Sci Anth ◽

10.1525/elementa.313 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rupinder Mangat ◽

Simon Dalby

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

National Security ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

Human Security ◽

Sustainable Society ◽

Fossil Fuel Industry ◽

War Metaphor ◽

Fuel Industry ◽

Change Problem

Fossil fuel divestment activists re-imagine how the war metaphor can be used in climate change action to transform thinking around what will lead to a sustainable society. Through the naming of a clear enemy and an end goal, the overused war metaphor is renewed. By casting the fossil fuel industry in the role of enemy, fossil fuel divestment activists move to a re-imagining of the climate change problem as one that is located in the here and now with known villains who must be challenged and defeated. In this scenario, climate activists move away from the climate and national security framing to a climate and human security way of thinking.

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