Gas emissions up to seventy times worse - immediate moratorium a must

Unconventional gas emissions up to seventy times worse than industry claims - immediate moratorium a must

Real time air sampling of gas fields in the US has shown leakage rates of up to over seventy times greater than the rates assumed by industry and accepted by government in Australia.

The study by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Colorado, has found rates of fugitive emissions fugitive emissions up to 7.7%, with a mean of 4% .

"If US government agency NOAA is offering a hard estimate at 4% for a field north of Denver in Colorado then Australian fields are likely to have that sort of rate of release if not more, says Matthew Wright, Executive Director of Beyond Zero Emissions

This contrasts with claims from Australian unconventional gas operators.

"Australian operators of Coal Seam Gas are claiming 0.1% total releases in the field. Where fugitive emissions of coal seam gas have actually been measured, as they have by the US Department of Energy in Wyoming, we are seeing releases of up to 15%.

"There are patently ridiculous claims coming from the industry, including from representatives of SANTOS, quoted in “The Australian” as saying that they do not lose one molecule of gas.

BHP Billiton's CEO Marius Kloppers when trying to sell the environmental credentials of shale gas over coal seam gas said "'the fundamental difference between shale gas extraction and coal bed methane: our shale operations involve hydraulically fracturing shale that is deep below the surface.''

With Coal Seam Methane (Coal Bed Methane) being so much closer to the surface, Marius Kloppers comments highlight the prospect that fugitive emissions from coal seam gas coal seam gas may be higher than 4%.

"The issue with uncombusted methane releases is that they are 25-105 times more potent that if the methane is combusted and the resultant emissions are counted. This means that emissions from unconventional gas are higher than coal" said Wright

"This raises huge questions around the carbon risk for government, operators and investors" said Wright "This also may explain BHP's announcement of a sudden shift away from unconventional gas this week after spending almost $20 Billion in the area in the past year." "In light of the increasing evidence that Coal Seam Gas and Shale have far higher emissions than previously assumed, the government must enforce a moratorium on further activities immediately. Independent monitoring from a number of reputable companies needs to be undertaken immediately to fully guage the extent of the problem. This could almost seal the fate of the industry in Australia" says Wright.

These results may explain the suppression of a completed WorelyParsons report commissioned by Beyond Zero Emissions last year. “If they were beginning to suspect these kinds of numbers, they would have been very worried about the impact on their clients in the gas industry". WorleyParsons has a half billion dollar contract with the giant QCLNG coal seam gas project in Queensland.

For Comment: Matthew Wright Executive Director Beyond Zero Emissions 0421 616 733