European consortium to take on fugitive methane emissions 18 December 2013

Cuadrilla Resources, Veolia Environnement and National Grid are to work with a European consortium, led by the Centre for Carbon Measurement at NPL (the National Physical Laboratory), to develop and test methane instruments for monitoring shale gas extraction, waste water treatment plants and gas distribution.

Climate-KIC, Europe's largest public-private innovation partnership working to address the challenge of climate change, has awarded €1.266 million to FuME (Fugitive Methane Emissions), a new project that will help to identify fugitive methane emissions, known to have a serious impact on climate change.

The project will develop methane measurement services, based on products including modelling tools, a laser-based open-path methane detection spectrometer and sensor networks.

The project will see NPL working with ARIA Technologies, CEREA and LSCE to adapt instrumentation, measurement techniques and methodologies for the target sectors – with Cuadrilla Resources, Veolia Environnement and National Grid providing sites and operational expertise.

Jane Burston, head of the Centre for Carbon Measurement at NPL, says that the project will lead to guidelines for each industry, covering fugitive methane emission measurement best practice, as well as reports summarising project results, and scientific papers on methods for quantifying fugitive methane emissions and their accuracy levels.

"Methane plays a big role in global warming. The IPCC recently updated their estimate of methane's global warming potential from 72 times that of carbon dioxide to 86 times over a 20 year time period," explains Burston.

"So it's a critical area to tackle for climate change mitigation. At the same time many opportunities to reduce fugitive losses are profit-making or cost neutral, so it's a potential business opportunity, too," she adds.

"Fugitive methane emissions measurement services will help a wide range of operators to better manage their processes and increase their profitability," comments Mary Ritter, chief executive officer, Climate-KIC.

"Climate-KIC is proud to fund the project and collaborate with FuME's consortium to fight climate change by stimulating clean innovation and growth in Europe."

Better detection and quantification of methane emissions is expected to contribute substantially to climate change mitigation, as methane represents 16% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and, due to its high global warming impact, more than a third of anthropogenic warming.

As well as mitigation opportunities, this project is expected to create potentially huge opportunities for innovation and economic growth through the provision of new products and services for the sectors in which fugitive methane can be captured.

The findings of this work are expected to contribute to standards and guideline documents for industry, including for example Best Available Technology guidelines highlighting how to monitor sites and capture fugitive losses.

Brian Tinham

This material is protected by MA Business copyright
See Terms and Conditions.
One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not.
For multiple copies contact the sales team.