Who We Are What We Do Sustainable Development Common Questions Does natural gas reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Can hydraulic fracturing be done responsibly ? Does an oil & gas company care about communities ? How does the company prepare for an emergency ? Can oil sands be developed responsibly ? In Communities Worldwide | Contact Search Careers Investors Newsroom U.S. Interest Owners DOES NATURAL GAS REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS? Home Sustainable Development Common Questions Does natural gas reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Print Share In March 2011, an academic paper claimed that producing natural gas from dense rock formations known as shale was no better for the environment than coal due to the high volume (reportedly 3.6% to 7.9%) of leaking natural gas. The main component of natural gas is methane – a more powerful compound than carbon dioxide in its warming potential that remains in the atmosphere for a much shorter duration. ConocoPhillips took this claim seriously, analyzing numerous external reports and immediately signing up to take part in studies to determine the facts. We joined with academics, industry partners, consultants and nongovernmental organizations to investigate the claims. In November 2012, the Joint Institute of Strategic Energy Analysis completed a study analyzing greenhouse gas emissions from 16,000 shale gas wells and related facilities in the Barnett Shale area near Dallas. The study found that the greenhouse gas emissions total associated with producing electricity from shale gas was less than half of that from producing electricity from coal. The results were interesting, but we wanted to learn more. We also joined an oil and gas industry study of 91,000 wells across the United States operated by 20 companies. The results showed that the volume of leaking natural gas was 53% less than the Environmental Protection Agency’s estimate of around 2%, which was already much lower than the estimates made in the March 2011 paper mentioned above. Now convinced that the majority of similar findings from recent studies were within a reasonable range, we shared our results on our Power in Cooperation website in the following linked fact sheet called Natural Gas and GHG's. We’re glad to have better data. However, we won’t grow complacent about this issue in our own operations. Natural gas leakage is a perfect example of a sustainable development challenge – it increases greenhouse gas emissions, causes people concern and can cost the company money. We don’t want any of those things to happen. Natural gas certainly can be emitted as a greenhouse gas, but when properly contained it is a valuable and widely beneficial product. That’s why small releases of natural gas are referred to as “fugitive emissions” because something is escaping that we want to capture. It’s not good for the environment. It’s money disappearing into thin air. And it’s something we take very seriously. So what can we do about it? We’ve already taken a number of steps. In 2000, we joined the EPA’s Natural Gas Star program, a voluntary partnership that works cooperatively to reduce natural gas leakage. We were one of the first companies to apply technology to reduce natural gas emissions when drilling shale gas wells. In 2007 in the United States, we implemented a project that has already captured 3 BCF of natural gas that would otherwise have been released or flared. In 2008, we implemented a Climate Change Action Plan that includes goals to reduce the release and flaring of natural gas and to share our best practices across the company. In 2013 we will be updating our plan, with the release and flaring of natural gas as one of the key focus areas. As a company, we’re always looking for ways to reduce our environmental footprint and improve people’s lives. For more than 40 years, ConocoPhillips has been a leader in Liquefied Natural Gas technology. LNG technology has saved natural gas from being flared, delivered it safely to people needing affordable energy and helped displace the use of more greenhouse-gas-intensive fuels, such as coal. This brings us back to where we started. Almost all coal burned in the United States is used to generate electricity. By displacing coal to generate cleaner and more efficient power, shale gas has helped the United States reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the lowest level in 20 years. This is a trend that should be encouraged globally. CAN HYDRAULIC FRACTURING BE DONE RESPONSIBLY? © 2014 ConocoPhillips Company. All Rights Reserved. Legal & Privacy