{"id":13320,"date":"2016-06-09T13:52:44","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T18:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=13320"},"modified":"2016-06-09T13:53:33","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T18:53:33","slug":"keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

By Mark Brownstein<\/a> and Steve Hamburg<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

An organization in North Carolina this week asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to examine questions about the accuracy of measurements from a device used in two of the large and growing list of studies published in recent years quantifying the enormous amounts of methane released into the atmosphere by the U.S. oil and gas industry each year.<\/p>\n

That long list of studies is a major reason why EPA recently increased its official estimates of industry emissions by 34 percent<\/a>, and why the agency is pursuing new rules to start fixing the problem.\u00a0 In fact oil and gas methane emissions have moved from obscurity to center stage with remarkable speed, thanks to rush of compelling data.<\/p>\n

The particular papers at issue were written by a team of scientists led by Dr. David Allen of the University of Texas. They are among of a group of studies on oil and gas industry methane emissions organized and coordinated by EDF. Possible complications involving a piece of sampling equipment (among several that were used) have been discussed by researchers in both academic literature and the news media for more than a year. You can read the blog that EDF wrote on it back in 2015 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Small Parts of a Vast Body of Research<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most important thing to understand is just how much new research has been produced on oil and gas methane emissions in just the past three years. EDF alone has organized 16 different research projects looking at emissions from on the ground and in the air. So far 27 peer-reviewed papers have been published on those projects, with at least nine more in the works. More than 35 different research institutions and over 120 individual co-authors have been involved in the work published to date.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s nothing to sneeze it. In fact, it\u2019s completely unprecedented.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that a handful of these papers have found emissions that were lower than previous estimates \u2013 often due to new or pending regulations \u2013 or cases where improved operating practices were working. But overall, the studies paint a clear picture of a significant problem that had been largely overlooked or ignored for years \u2013 and one that is much larger than either industry or government had previously recognized.<\/p>\n

Moreover, other studies using entirely different methods and measurement technologies broadly support Allen\u2019s findings. Indeed, one of the strengths of the combined body of research using diverse methodologies is that it provides an extremely robust set of mutually reinforcing results.<\/p>\n

Open and Honest Science<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we said more than year ago, EDF is pleased to see the methane work that we\u2019ve sponsored receiving rigorous scrutiny by the research community, and we are equally pleased that the lead researchers we\u2019ve chosen to work with are taking these critiques seriously and are taking the necessary steps to recheck their work. We believe good environmental policy begins with good science. The scientific process is working here precisely as it should.<\/p>\n

As always, EDF welcomes \u2013 and indeed, we encourage \u2013 honest and open review of any science we\u2019re involved with, including these two papers. But the overall impact of the questions raised on national methane emissions rates is limited. It\u2019s important not to overestimate their individual significance in vast catalog of studies published in the two-and-a-half years since Dr. Allen\u2019s first study was released.<\/p>\n

It is clear that methane emissions from the oil and gas industry are too high \u2013 higher than EPA originally or currently estimates, and that strong regulations are necessary to reduce them. \u00a0Fortunately, research has also shown just how effective these solutions can be when properly implemented. We look forward to continuing to work with the federal government, the states and other stakeholders to reduce harmful methane emissions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Mark Brownstein and Steve Hamburg An organization in North Carolina this week asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to examine questions about the accuracy of measurements from a device used in two of the large and growing list of studies published in recent years quantifying the enormous amounts of methane released into the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34915],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-13320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-methane"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKeeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  By Mark Brownstein and Steve Hamburg An organization in North Carolina this week asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to examine questions about the accuracy of measurements from a device used in two of the large and growing list of studies published in recent years quantifying the enormous amounts of methane released into the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-09T18:52:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-06-09T18:53:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"EDF Blogs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"EDF Blogs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/09\\\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/09\\\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"EDF Blogs\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aae063915aaf10301a322185853c51d3\"},\"headline\":\"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-09T18:52:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-09T18:53:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/09\\\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":641,\"commentCount\":1,\"keywords\":[\"Methane\"],\"articleSection\":[\"General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/09\\\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/09\\\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/09\\\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\\\/\",\"name\":\"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective - Energy Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-09T18:52:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-09T18:53:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aae063915aaf10301a322185853c51d3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/09\\\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/09\\\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2016\\\/06\\\/09\\\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Exchange\",\"description\":\"Accelerating the clean energy revolution\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aae063915aaf10301a322185853c51d3\",\"name\":\"EDF Blogs\",\"description\":\"From time to time, the Energy Exchange blog includes posts from infrequent contributors, such as other EDF scientists and staff. Since these authors vary, we use this standard author bio profile for guest posts. For more information about this author, please see his\\\/her link at the beginning of the post.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.edf.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective - Energy Exchange","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective - Energy Exchange","og_description":"  By Mark Brownstein and Steve Hamburg An organization in North Carolina this week asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to examine questions about the accuracy of measurements from a device used in two of the large and growing list of studies published in recent years quantifying the enormous amounts of methane released into the ...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/","og_site_name":"Energy Exchange","article_published_time":"2016-06-09T18:52:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-06-09T18:53:33+00:00","author":"EDF Blogs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"EDF Blogs","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/"},"author":{"name":"EDF Blogs","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/aae063915aaf10301a322185853c51d3"},"headline":"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective","datePublished":"2016-06-09T18:52:44+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-09T18:53:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/"},"wordCount":641,"commentCount":1,"keywords":["Methane"],"articleSection":["General"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/","name":"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective - Energy Exchange","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-09T18:52:44+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-09T18:53:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/aae063915aaf10301a322185853c51d3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/06\/09\/keeping-an-important-methane-research-question-in-proper-perspective\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Keeping an Important Methane Research Question in Proper Perspective"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/","name":"Energy Exchange","description":"Accelerating the clean energy revolution","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/aae063915aaf10301a322185853c51d3","name":"EDF Blogs","description":"From time to time, the Energy Exchange blog includes posts from infrequent contributors, such as other EDF scientists and staff. Since these authors vary, we use this standard author bio profile for guest posts. For more information about this author, please see his\/her link at the beginning of the post.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.edf.org"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13320"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=13320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}