September 2022

The role of theInternational Methane
Emissions Observatory inStrengthening National
Greenhouse Gas
Inventories
Steven Hamburg
Chair – IMEO Scientific Oversight Committee

IMEO interconnects better data with action on transparency, science, andimplementation

Close the knowledge gap

peer-reviewed studies and data
reconciliation.

Provide accurate, unbiased andup-to-date information on methaneemissions

Raise awareness and increase the capacity ofgovernments to pursue science based-policy options tomanage methane emissions.

GHG emission estimates are increasingly being able to be effectively
constrained in a policy relevant way at regional and country scales
using readily-available methane emission measurement-based
approaches. i.e., fluxes derived from satellite remote sensing data
(supported by airborne-based approaches and tower networks).

IMEO an integrated emissions data hub providing actionable data
Data flow of the IMEO
GENERATE
FINALPRODUCTS

COLLECT DATA
• OGMP companies’ assets data
• Science measurements studies• National inventories• Satellite data

Apply Big Data,
data science,and machinelearning

Reconcileinconsistencies
and identify gaps

Integrating Inventory and measurement-based emissions
provides very useful data
Example: Barnett Shale synthesis work: Robust, complementary approaches

Regional-level

Replicate mass balances

Accurate attribution

Zavala-Araiza et al. PNAS (2015)

Inventory

Accurate facility counts

Representative emission factors

Successful reconciliation of oil and gas methane emissions in the US

Basin level bottom-up
emissions estimates agreewith top-down
measurements

Alvarez et al. Science (2018)

Basin level bottom-up
emissions estimates agreewith top-down
measurements

Alvarez et al. Science (2018)

Probability based on 10,000
Monte Carlo Simulations

Successful reconciliation of oil and gas methane emissions in the US

Successful reconciliation of oil and gas methane emissions in the US:
keys to achieving convergence• Replicate Measurements: Reduce uncertainty of regional-level estimates• Attribution: Stoichiometry (e.g. C1:C2) often allows differentiation between
fossil and biogenic GHG sources (e.g. methane)• Accurate Activity factors: Inventory-based estimates require accurate facility
counts• Emissions Distribution Characterization: accurate characterization of emissionfactors:• Sampling must capture low-probability, high-emitting sources• Magnitude and frequency of high-emitting sources• Co-occurring estimates: Align spatial and temporal domains of top-down andbottom-up estimates.
Alvarez et al. Science (2018)

Mexico: multi-scale empirical data can guide mitigation(Mg/hr)Offshore emissions are significantly overestimated by current inventories while
onshore emissions are significantly underestimated.

offshoreonshore60

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Oil and gas emissions are 2 times higher than national inventory (loss rate of 4.3%).
One basin (Sureste) is responsible for 50% of national O&G emissions.

20

Aerialmeas.

National
inventory

Satellitemeas.

0(Source: Shen, et al. 2021; Zavala-Araiza et al. 2021)

Norway Offshore
O&G production

Foulds et al. 2022

Norway Offshore O&G Methane Emissions

Foulds et al. 2022 preprint

Methane emissions Surat Basin, New South
Wales, Australia

Neininger et al. 2021

Methane Emissions across O&G Basins

Neininger et al. 2021

Satellite observations quantify Permian methaneemissions
TROPOMI methane data averaged from May 2018 – March 2019

Zhang et al. (2020) ScienceAdvances. 6: eaaz5120

TROPOMI data reveal high methane emissions from the Permian BasinZhang etZhang
al. et(2020)
ScienceAdvances.
6: eaaz5120
al. (2020),Science Advances.
6: eaaz5120

Permian Basin Methane Emissions Trends
2020

Lyon et al. 2021., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6605-2021

GHG Satellite Revolution is Underway
MethaneSAT
Mission Objective• Provide policy-relevant/actionable GHG data

Mission Overview• Regular monitoring of regions accounting for > 80% of global oil & gas production• Designed to detect, quantify, and track area emission rates as well as those from point
source emissions• Flux data product available immediately – data publicly available free of charge• High level of precision & small pixel size - Detection threshold 5 kg CH4/h/km2• Targeting satellite• Near real time flux data product availability – fully automated flux data product• Philanthropically funded• Partnering with New Zealand-Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 Reporting Levels
Level 1

Level 2

Venture/Asset Reporting

Emissions Category••

Level 3Single, consolidated emissions number
Only applicable where company has very limited information••

Emissions reported based on IOGP and Marcogaz emissions
categories
Based on generic emissions factors

Generic Emission Source Level

Emissions reported by detailed source type
Based on generic emissions factors••

Specific Emission Source Level
Level 4•
•Emissions reported by detailed source type using specificemissions and activity factors
Based on direct measurement or other methodologies

Level 4 + Site Level Measurement Reconciliation

Level 5

Direct measurement methodologies at a site or facility level*,
typically through sensors mounted on a mobile platform• Reconciled with Level 4* on a representative sample of facilities•GOLD STANDARD:
Integrates “bottom-up”
source-level reporting, withindependent “top-down” sitelevel measurements for themajority assets

Conclusions
1

Improved accuracy with greater spatial resolution would allow countries/interested parties to bettercharacterize methane emissions sources and take credit for progress both individually andcollectively.

2

Efficient abatement requires accurate characterization of emission sources, initial assumptions
without measurement-based data would point to the wrong methane sources to target forabatement (e.g., Mexico: discrepancy between onshore/offshore emissions).

3Atmospheric observations of GHG concentrations alone are not sufficient to drive change. For
example, data products limited to analysis of concentrations/enhancements and not fluxes are notactionable.

4The International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) is developing an integrated data hub of
methane emissions, bringing together multi-scale data from industry (reported based onmeasurement-based guidelines), inventories, satellite remote sensing and studies from theacademic community.
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September 2022

THANK YOU

Shamburg@edf.org