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Accomplishments
- Introduction
- 2007: Continuing Excellence
- Production Sector Accomplishments
- Gathering and Processing Sector Accomplishments
- Transmission Sector Accomplishments
- Distribution Sector Accomplishments
- New Tools and Resources
- Historical Accomplishments
View a complete summary of the 2007 Natural Gas STAR Program Accomplishments as PDF (9 pp, 3.4 MB, About PDF)
Introduction
Natural Gas STAR industry partners have operations in all of the major industry sectors—production, gathering and processing, transmission, and distribution—and represent 60 percent of the natural gas industry in the United States, including 19 of the top 25 natural gas production companies. Also, with the launch of Natural Gas STAR International in 2006, the Program expanded to include companies worldwide, significantly increasing opportunities to reduce methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations.
2007: Continuing Excellence
Now in its 15th year, the Natural Gas STAR program continues to achieve success through its partnerships with the oil and natural gas industry. Since 1993, the oil and natural gas industry has eliminated nearly 677 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of domestic methane emissions through the implementation of more than 120 cost-effective technologies and practices.
For calendar year 2007, Natural Gas STAR partners reported emissions reductions of approximately 92.5 Bcf. These emissions reductions, voluntarily undertaken by Natural Gas STAR partner companies, have cross-cutting benefits on domestic energy supply, industrial efficiency, revenue generation and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The 2007 domestic emissions reductions are equivalent to:
- The additional revenue of nearly $648 million in natural gas sales (assumes 2007 average natural gas price of $7.00 per thousand cubic feet).
- The avoidance of 37.4 million tonnes CO2 equivalent.
- The CO2 emissions from the electricity use of nearly 5 million homes per year.
- The annual greenhouse gas emissions from approximately 6.8 million passenger vehicles.
- The carbon sequestered annually by 8.5 million acres of pine or fir forests.
2007 was a very successful year for Natural Gas STAR with reported emissions reductions of approximately 92.5 Bcf. The production and transmission sectors accounted for the most emissions reduced with 67.1 Bcf and 17.7 Bcf respectively.
Natural Gas STAR InternationalIn addition to the growth experienced under the domestic Program since 1993, international progress is also being made in reducing methane emissions under Natural Gas STAR International. The Natural Gas STAR International Program requirements mirror that of the domestic Natural Gas STAR Program, and membership is open to all oil and natural gas companies worldwide. This was the first year that international partners submitted Annual Reports to the Program. For 2007, Natural Gas STAR International partners reported nearly 6.7 Bcf in emissions reductions and a total of 14.4 Bcf since the inception of the Natural Gas STAR International Program.
The 2007 voluntary international emissions reductions are equivalent to:
- The additional revenue of nearly $47 million in natural gas sales (assumes 2007 natural gas price of $7.00 per thousand cubic feet).
- The avoidance of 2.7 million tones CO2 equivalent.
- The CO2 emissions from the electricity use of nearly 360,000 homes per year.
- The annual greenhouse gas emissions from nearly 500,000 passenger vehicles.
- The carbon sequestered annually by 615,000 acres of pine or fir forests.
Production Sector Accomplishments
Production partners reported approximately 67.1 Bcf of domestic methane emissions reductions in 2007—and a total of 416.5 Bcf since 1990. The technologies and practices employed by production sector partners include:
Detailed information on these technologies and practices can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/gasstar/tools/recommended.html
Gathering and Processing Sector Accomplishments
Gathering and processing partners reported 6.5 Bcf of domestic methane emissions reductions in 2007—and a total of 34.3 Bcf since 1990. The technologies and practices employed by gathering and processing sector partners include:
Detailed information on these technologies and practices can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/gasstar/tools/recommended.html
Transmission Sector Accomplishments
Transmission partners reported 17.7 Bcf of domestic methane emissions reductions in 2007—and 195.1 Bcf since 1993. The technologies and practices employed by transmission sector partners include:
Detailed information on these technologies and practices can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/gasstar/tools/recommended.html
Distribution Sector Accomplishments
Distribution partners reported 1.5 Bcf of domestic methane emissions reductions in 2007—and a total of approximately 39.8 Bcf since 1993. The technologies and practices employed by distribution sector partners include:
Detailed information on these technologies and practices can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/gasstar/tools/recommended.html
New Tools and Resources
Natural Gas STAR also introduced several new tools and services available to further the goals of identifying, analyzing and promoting methane emission reduction activities in the oil and gas sector.
- Emissions Reduction Quantification Reference Guide (XLS) (456K, About MS Excel
): In order to help Natural Gas STAR partners and other stakeholders better quantify emissions reductions achieved through participation in the Program, EPA has developed a new reference guide to provide assistance in quantifying the methane emissions reductions achieved by a particular technology or practice. Where applicable, the Emissions Reduction Quantification Reference Guide, provides viable calculation methodology options for direct measurement, engineering calculation, and/or emission factors for Natural Gas STAR recommended technologies and practices. - ON TIME Tool : This Tool gives users easy access to information on cost-effective technologies and practices that reduce methane emissions in the oil and natural gas industry. The EPA and Methane to Markets Partnership would like to acknowledge the Government of Canada for sponsoring this project and the workgroup that contributed time and resources to facilitate development of the Tool.
- Partner Challenge Service: The goal of the Natural Gas STAR Partner Challenge service is to assist partner companies in identifying and implementing new methane emission reduction opportunities by developing estimates of a partner’s methane emissions, identifying key emission sources, and proposing economically and environmentally beneficial mitigation activities. The end product is a detailed report that quantifies methane emissions volumes by source and provides detailed economic and emissions analyses for implementing targeted emission reduction opportunities.
- STARtracker Software: Devon Energy Corporation, in collaboration with COMM Engineering (COMM) and Louisiana State University (LSU), developed STARtracker, a Web-based application for tracking and reporting methane emissions reductions. The application, to be hosted on individual companies' Web servers, allows users to set up the tool to reflect their operations in order to track and catalog methane emissions reductions across their company.
Historical Accomplishments
Please note that this is historical information. Each summary report below captures a snapshot of the Program's achievements at the time of original publication. Please refer to the most current information above for methane emissions reductions achieved and top technologies and practices implemented by partners.
- 2006 Natural Gas STAR Program Accomplishments (PDF) (7pp., 268K, About PDF)
- 2005 Natural Gas STAR Program Accomplishments (PDF) (4pp., 276K, About PDF)
- 2004 Natural Gas STAR Program Accomplishments (PDF) (3pp., 125K, About PDF)
- 2003 Natural Gas STAR Program Accomplishments (PDF) (3pp., 195K, About PDF)
- 2002 Natural Gas STAR Program Accomplishments (PDF) (3pp., 113K, About PDF)