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DOE OSTI2023

Machine Learning Application to Assess Occurrence and Saturations of Methane Hydrate in Marine Deposits Offshore India

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were used to assess methane hydrate occurrence and saturation in marine sediments offshore India. The ANN analysis classifies the gas hydrate occurrence into three types: methane hydrate in pore space, methane hydrate in fractures, or no methane hydrate. Further, predicted saturation characterizes the volume of gas hydrate with respect to the available void volume. Log data collected at six wells, which were drilled during the India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02), provided a combination of well log measurements that were used as input for machine learning (ML) models. Well log measurements included density, porosity, electrical resistivity, natural gamma radiation, and acoustic wave velocity. Combinations of well logs used in the ML models provide good overall balanced accuracy (0.79 to 0.86) for the prediction of the gas hydrate occurrence and good accuracy (0.68 to 0.92) for methane hydrate saturation prediction in the marine accumulations against reference data. The accuracy scores indicate that the ML models can successfully predict reservoir characteristics for marine methane hydrate deposits. In conclusion, the results indicate that the ML models can either augment physics-driven methods for assessing the occurrence and saturation of methane hydrate deposits or serve as an independent predictive tool for those characteristics.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Modeling of Methane Flows Around Oil and Gas Equipment

Recent studies estimate that emissions from oil and gas production facilities contribute between 20 and 50% of the total methane ( CH 4 ) emitted in the US; therefore, quantifying and reducing these emissions are crucial for achieving climate goals. Methane quantification depends on both measuring methane concentrations and converting them to emissions through a modeling framework. Currently, simple atmospheric dispersion models are primarily used to quantify emissions and concentrations, but these estimates are highly uncertain when quantifying emissions from complex aerodynamic sources, such as oil and gas facilities. This investigation used a CFD modeling approach, which can account for aerodynamic complexity but has hitherto not been used to model methane concentrations downwind of a methane release of a known rate, and compared it against in situ measurements. High-time-resolution (1 Hz) methane concentration and meteorological data were measured during experiments conducted at the METEC on 21 March and 11 July 2024. The METEC site configuration, measured wind data, and controlled emission rates were used as input for the CONVERGE CFD model to model downwind CH 4 concentration. The modeling was carried out between 20 and 70 m, from two different points of release in two separate controlled-release experiments, one from a separator and another from a wellhead. In these experiments, we found that the CFD model could predict the CH 4 concentrations downwind of the release to a good degree. The model was evaluated on multiple metrics to assess its performance in estimating methane concentrations at typical fence line distances (∼30 m). These results help us to understand external flows and the ability of CFD models to predict downwind concentrations in aerodynamically complex environments.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Methane Emissions Produced by Pneumatic Devices and Produced Water Tanks on Natural Gas Wellsites

In recent years, more scrutiny has been placed on the release of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) by the oil and gas industry in North America as climate concerns increase. In the coming years, stricter regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning the release of GHGs will further direct attention to GHG emissions quantification, modeling, and overall reduction. Active natural gas wellsites employ production equipment that routinely emits methane during normal operation. Production equipment often includes, but is not limited to, gas production units (GPUs), pneumatic controllers (PCs) and actuators powered by produced natural gas, and produced water storage tanks. This work details direct methane emission measurements taken at active natural gas wellsites originating from intermittent pneumatic controllers and produced water storage tanks. Efforts to model methane flows originating from these sources are also detailed, and those results are compared to direct measurement. The direct methane emissions measurement campaign collected flow data from two active dry wellsites in the Marcellus shale region. These measurement campaigns captured, in total, several weeks of continuous data from these sites. Data included multiple pneumatic device vent flowrate channels, a single channel monitoring total emissions vented from the produced water storage tanks, and corresponding site weather data. Periodic composition measurements were taken from flows vented from produced water tanks. Computational modeling efforts attempted to mimic a given site’s methane emissions behavior given limited input parameters. Direct measurement data and simulation data yielded, through reduction and analysis, apparent methane emissions factors, statistics on pneumatic device actuation events, important relationships between GPU parameters and pneumatic device actuation events, produced water storage tank vent flows and flow compositions, and parameters most contributing to the magnitude and frequency of these fugitive methane emissions. Measurements, considering data from a 72hr period, produced PC emissions factors from 0.008 to 0.03 SCFH per device with an average device emitting 0.026 SCFH at the first site. The second site produced PC emissions factors spanning from 0.05 to 25.47 SCFH with an average device emitting 1.93 SCFH not including the 25.47 SCFH device, which was assumed to be malfunctioning. Two unique water tank emission measurements were made, 618 g CH4 per hour and 32.6 g CH4 per hour. On a water basis, the water tank emissions factors were 0.66 and 0.042 kg CH4 per bbl of water, respectively.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Exploring the Impact of Active Site Structure on the Conversion of Methane to Methanol in Cu‐Exchanged Zeolites

Abstract In the past, Cu‐oxo or ‐hydroxy clusters hosted in zeolites have been suggested to enable the selective conversion of methane to methanol, but the impact of the active site's stoichiometry and structure on methanol production is still poorly understood. Herein, we apply theoretical modeling in conjunction with experiments to study the impact of these two factors on partial methane oxidation in the Cu‐exchanged zeolite SSZ‐13. Phase diagrams developed from first‐principles suggest that Cu‐hydroxy or Cu‐oxo dimers are stabilized when O 2 or N 2 O are used to activate the catalyst, respectively. We confirm these predictions experimentally and determine that in a stepwise conversion process, Cu‐oxo dimers can convert twice as much methane to methanol compared to Cu‐hydroxyl dimers. Our theoretical models rationalize how Cu‐di‐oxo dimers can convert up to two methane molecules to methanol, while Cu‐di‐hydroxyl dimers can convert only one methane molecule to methanol per catalytic cycle. These findings imply that in Cu clusters, at least one oxo group or two hydroxyl groups are needed to convert one methane molecule to methanol per cycle. This simple structure–activity relationship allows to intuitively understand the potential of small oxygenated or hydroxylated transition metal clusters to convert methane to methanol.

Chemistry↗

DOE OSTI2020

Strong temporal variability in methane fluxes from natural gas well pad soils

We measured methane and carbon dioxide fluxes at natural gas well pad soils and undisturbed soils in the Rocky Mountain and Gulf Coast regions of the United States, including producing and gas storage wells. We collected both short-term (15 min) and multi-day (between 3 and 8), continuous measurements at 47 well pads and two undisturbed locations. Methane fluxes varied by more than an order of magnitude over periods as short as 30 min (e.g., 19–593 mg m -2 h -1 in one instance), and diurnal and seasonal variability was also significant (e.g., spring-to-fall change from 509 to 14174 mg m -2 h -1 ). We hypothesize that short-term flux variability was caused by pulsed flow of methane during its migration through the subsurface. Barometric pressure and well conditions likely impacted fluxes, but we found only weak evidence for this. Bacterial methanotrophy appeared to impact methane flux magnitude and variability. We injected methane into the subsurface at one well, and we found that, while fluxes of methane and carbon dioxide, and combustible soil gas concentrations, increased in response to the injection, the response was not uniform, and fluxes exhibited high hourly-scale variability, in spite of a constant injection rate. Methane fluxes tended to be higher at well pad soils compared to background soils (often much higher), and fluxes tended to be higher at well pad locations closer to the well head.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Investigation of methane and ethane pyrolysis with highly active and durable iron-alumina catalyst to produce hydrogen and valuable nano carbons: Continuous fluidized bed tests and reaction rate analysis

The goal of this research work was to evaluate a novel iron-alumina catalyst for methane and ethane pyrolysis with high conversion rates to H 2 with a long life time to address two major issues reported with previous catalysts. Fluidized bed tests demonstrated continuous hydrogen production while collecting carbon containing fines. During the 230 h fluid bed test the methane conversion rate to hydrogen at 700 °C remained above 80% for 160 h while creating valuable nano carbons. Similarly high catalyst lifetimes with high methane conversions have not been reported before. Ethane was more active than methane for pyrolysis with 100% conversion to H 2 . Transmission electron microscopy and Raman analysis of the carbon showed single and multiwall nanotubes and conglomerate nano-fibers. Ethane did not impact the allotrope of carbon formed. TGA was used to create a data array that was used for kinetic analysis and reaction model parametric regressions. Ethane had a higher rate of pyrolysis that was 2.3–2.8 times that of methane. Ethane pyrolysis was found to be more sensitive to temperature with a higher activation energy of 62 kJ/mol as compared to methane at 43 kJ/mol. The frequency factor, A i , was significantly higher for ethane at 0.73 [[kmol/m 3 -sec]/[N/m2] n ] compared to 0.03 for methane on the same basis. Both gases had a functional partial pressure order dependence of ~0.6 based on the regression analysis.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2023

Assessing the methane mitigation potential of innovative management in US rice production

Abstract Rice is an important global crop while also contributing significant anthropogenic methane (CH 4 ) emissions. To support the future of rice production, more information is needed on the impacts of sustainability-driven management used to grow rice with lower associated methane emissions. Recent support for the impacts of different growing practices in the US has prompted the application of a regional methodology (Tier 2) to estimate methane emissions in different rice growing regions. The methodology estimates rice methane emissions from the US Mid-South (MdS) and California (Cal) using region-specific scaling factors applied to a region-specific baseline flux. In our study, we leverage land cover data and soil clay content to estimate methane emissions using this approach, while also examining how changes in common production practices can affect overall emissions in the US. Our results indicated US rice cultivation produced between 0.32 and 0.45 Tg CH 4 annually, which were approximately 7% and 42% lower on average compared to Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inventories, respectively. Our estimates were 63% greater on average compared to similar methods that lack regional context. Introducing aeration events into irrigation resulted in the greatest methane reductions across both regions. When accounting for differences between baseline and reduction scenarios, the US MdS typically had higher mitigation potential compared to Cal. The differences in cumulative mitigation potential across the 2008–2020 period were likely driven by lower production area clay content for the US MdS compared to Cal. The added spatial representation in the Tier 2 approach is useful in surveying how impactful methane-reducing practices might be within and across regions.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗

DOE OSTI2025

Polyphenol rewiring of the microbiome reduces methane emissions

Methane mitigation is regarded as a critical strategy to combat the scale of global warming. Currently, ~40% of methane emissions originate from microbial sources, which is causing strategies to suppress methanogens—either through direct toxic effects or by diverting their substrates and energy—to gain traction. Problematically, current microbial methane mitigation knowledge lacks detailed microbiome-centered insights, limiting translation across conditions and ecosystems. Here we utilize genome-resolved metatranscriptomes and metabolomes to assess the impact of a proposed methane inhibitor, catechin, on greenhouse gas emissions for high-methane-emitting peatlands. In microcosms, catechin drastically reduced methane emissions by 72%–84% compared to controls. Longitudinal sampling allowed for reconstruction of a catechin degradation pathway involving Actinomycetota and Clostridium, which break down catechin into smaller phenolic compounds within the first 21 days, followed by degradation of phenolic compounds by Pseudomonas_E from Days 21 to 35. These genomes co-expressed hydrogen-uptake genes, suggesting hydrogenases may act as a hydrogen sink during catechin degradation and consequently reduce hydrogen availability to methanogens. In support of this idea, there was decreased gene expression by hydrogenotrophic and hydrogen-dependent methylotrophic methanogens under catechin treatment. There was also reduced gene expression from genomes inferred to be functioning syntrophically with hydrogen-utilizing methanogens. We propose that catechin metabolic redirection effectively starves hydrogen-utilizing methanogens, offering a potent avenue for curbing methane emissions across diverse environments including ruminants, landfills, and constructed or managed wetlands.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

Sulfide stress tolerance as a controller of methane production in temperate wetlands

Abstract Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions and contribute to the observed increase in atmospheric methane over the last 20 years. Methane production in wetlands is the final step of carbon decomposition performed by anaerobic archaea. Although hydrogen/carbon dioxide and acetate are the substrates most often attributed to methanogenesis, other substrates—such as methylated compounds—may additionally play important roles in driving methane production in wetland systems. Here we conducted mesocosm experiments combined with genome-resolved metatranscriptomics to investigate the impact of diverse methanogenic substrate amendment on methanogenesis in two high methane-emitting wetlands with distinct geochemistry, termed P7 and P8. Methanol amendment resulted in high methane production at both sites, whereas acetate and formate amendment only stimulated methanogenesis in P7 mesocosms, where aqueous sulfide concentrations were lower. In P7 sediments, formate amendment fueled acetogenic microbes that produced acetate, which was subsequently utilized by acetoclastic methanogens. In contrast to expression profiles in P7 mesocosms, active methylotrophic methanogen genomes from P8 showed increased expression of genes related to membrane remodeling and DNA damage repair, indicative of stress tolerance mechanisms to counter sulfide toxicity. Methylotrophic methanogenesis generates higher free energy yields than acetoclastic methanogenesis, which likely enables allocation of more energy toward stress responses. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature highlighting methylotrophic methanogenesis as an important methane production pathway in wetlands. By using less competitive substrates like methanol that provide greater energy yields, methylotrophic methanogens may invest in physiological strategies that provide competitive advantages across a range of environmental stresses.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗

DOE OSTI2025

Regional Oil and gas Aerial Methane Synthesis model (ROAMS) v2.0

The Regional Oil and gas Aerial Methane Synthesis model is a tool to convert the results of wide-area, source-resolved aerial methane remote sensing surveys of oil and natural gas infrastructure in a given region into methane emissions inventories (estimates of the magnitude and breakdown of methane emissions from the surveyed infrastructure). The tool leverages databases of source-resolved methane emissions detected in aerial surveys, aerial survey coverage information (which areas were measured and when), data summarizing surveyed oil and natural gas infrastructure and production (derived from third-party databases), as well as state-of-the-art mechanistic emissions simulation tools to characterize emissions too small for the aerial system to see. The regional methane emissions estimates produced by this tool are much more granular in both space and asset type than common satellite- or flux tower-based regional estimates. Unlike other tools for converting site-level measurements into regional emissions estimates, our unique geostatistical approach integrates aerially measured emissions with limited need for statistical extrapolation, which can be highly sensitive to modeler assumptions. As a result, ROAMS-based estimates of regional methane emissions from oil and gas activity are widely viewed as highly credible, as evidenced by the success of Dr. Sherwin's recent paper in Nature.

Sherwin, Evan [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborato↗

DOE OSTI2025

Regional Oil and gas Aerial Methane Synthesis model (Analytica) (ROAMS Analytica) v1.5.2

The Regional Oil and gas Aerial Methane Synthesis model (Analytica) is a tool to convert the results of wide-area, source-resolved aerial methane remote sensing surveys of oil and natural gas infrastructure in a given region into methane emissions inventories (estimates of the magnitude and breakdown of methane emissions from the surveyed infrastructure). This version is written in the Analytica programming language, and this version accompanies a correction in preparation for submission to Sherwin et al. 2024 (Nature). The tool leverages databases of source-resolved methane emissions detected in aerial surveys, aerial survey coverage information (which areas were measured and when), data summarizing surveyed oil and natural gas infrastructure and production (derived from third-party databases), as well as state-of-the-art mechanistic emissions simulation tools to characterize emissions too small for the aerial system to see. The regional methane emissions estimates produced by this tool are much more granular in both space and asset type than common satellite- or flux tower-based regional estimates. Unlike other tools for converting site-level measurements into regional emissions estimates, our unique geostatistical approach integrates aerially measured emissions with limited need for statistical extrapolation, which can be highly sensitive to modeler assumptions. As a result, ROAMS-based estimates of regional methane emissions from oil and gas activity are widely viewed as highly credible, as evidenced by the success of Dr. Sherwin's recent paper in Nature.

Sherwin, Evan [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborato↗

DOE OSTI2024

Methane Integrated Monitoring and Measurement System Design

Methane (CH 4 ), an abundant greenhouse gas, is the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). In comparison to CO 2 , CH 4 has a larger warming effect over a much shorter lifetime. While technologies to radically reduce global carbon dioxide emissions are materializing, rapid reductions in methane emissions are needed to limit near-term warming. Methane is primarily emitted as a byproduct from agricultural activities and energy extraction/utilization and is currently monitored via bottom-up (i.e., activity level) or top-down (via airborne or satellite retrievals) approaches. However, significant methane leaks remain undetected, and emission rates are challenging to characterize with current monitoring frameworks. In this report, we study methane leaks from oil and gas infrastructure using a tiered monitoring approach that combines bottom-up and top-down approaches in an integrated framework. We describe the individual advantages of bottom-up and top-down sensors in both stationary and mobile settings before characterizing how a fully integrated framework can improve predictions and uncertainties of potential leak locations and their emission rates. Further, we study the impact of different atmospheric (wind) conditions on integrated methane monitoring and develop a probabilistic approach to optimal sensor placement, thereby shortening detection times and improving monitoring capabilities. Last, we discuss how biogenic flux modeling can be used to improve assessment of background methane concentrations needed to fully assess the sensitivity of a tiered monitoring system.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Landfill Emissions of Methane Inferred from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Mobile Ground Measurements

Municipal solid waste landfills are significant sources of atmospheric methane, the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Large emissions of methane from landfills contribute not only to global climate change, but also to local ozone formation due to the enhancement of radical chain lengths in atmospheric reactions of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides. Several advanced techniques were deployed to measure methane emissions from two landfills in the Southeast Michigan ozone nonattainment area during the Michigan–Ontario Ozone Source Experiment (MOOSE). These techniques included mobile infrared cavity ringdown spectrometry, drone-mounted meteorological sensors and tunable diode laser spectrometry, estimation of total landfill emissions of methane based on flux plane measurements, and Gaussian plume inverse modeling of distributed methane emissions in the presence of complex landfill terrain. The total methane emissions measured at the two landfills were of the order of 500 kg/h, with an uncertainty of around 50%. The results indicate that both landfill active faces and leaking gas collection systems are important sources of methane emissions.

Olaguer, Eduardo P.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Design and evaluation of a low-cost sensor node for near-background methane measurement

Abstract. We developed a low-cost methane sensing node incorporating two metal oxide (MOx) sensors (Figaro Engineering TGS2611-E00 and TGS2600), humidity and temperature sensing, data storage, and telemetry. We deployed the prototype sensor alongside a reference methane analyzer at two sites: one outdoors and one indoors. We collected data at each site for several months across a range of environmental conditions (particularly temperature and humidity) and methane levels. We explored calibration models to investigate the performance of our system and its suitability for methane background monitoring and enhancement detection, first selecting a linear regression to fit a sensor baseline response and then fitting methane response by the sensor deviation from baseline. We achieved moderate accuracy in a 2 to 10 ppm methane range compared to data from the reference analyzer (RMSE < 0.6 ppm), but we found that the sensor response varied over time, possibly as a result of changes in non-targeted gas concentrations. We suggest that this cross sensitivity may be responsible for mixed results in previous studies. We discuss the implications of our results for the use of these and similar inexpensive MOx sensors for methane monitoring in the 2 to 10 ppm range.

Furuta, Daniel↗

DOE OSTI2023

Evidence of cryptic methane cycling and non-methanogenic methylamine consumption in the sulfate-reducing zone of sediment in the Santa Barbara Basin, California

The recently discovered cryptic methane cycle in the sulfate-reducing zone of marine and wetland sediment couples methylotrophic methanogenesis to anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). Here we present evidence of cryptic methane cycling activity within the upper regions of the sulfate-reducing zone, along a depth transect within the Santa Barbara Basin, off the coast of California, USA. The top 0–20 cm of sediment from each station was subjected to geochemical analyses and radiotracer incubations using 35 S–SO$^{2-}_{4}$, 14 C–mono-methylamine, and 14 C–CH 4 to find evidence of cryptic methane cycling. Methane concentrations were consistently low (3 to 16 µM) across the depth transect, despite AOM rates increasing with decreasing water depth (from max 0.05 nmol cm -3 d -1 at the deepest station to max 1.8 nmol cm -3 d -1 at the shallowest station). Porewater sulfate concentrations remained high (23 to 29 mM), despite the detection of sulfate reduction activity from 35 S–SO$^{2-}_{4}$ incubations with rates up to 134 nmol cm -3 d -1 . Metabolomic analysis showed that substrates for methanogenesis (i.e., acetate, methanol and methylamines) were mostly below the detection limit in the porewater, but some samples from the 1–2 cm depth section showed non-quantifiable evidence of these substrates, indicating their rapid turnover. Estimated methanogenesis from mono-methylamine ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 nmol cm -3 d -1 . Discrepancies between the rate constants (k) of methanogenesis (from 14 C–mono-methylamine) and AOM (from either 14 C–mono-methylamine-derived 14 C–CH 4 or from directly injected 14 C–CH 4 ) suggest the activity of a separate, concurrent metabolic process directly metabolizing mono-methylamine to inorganic carbon. We conclude that the results presented in this work show strong evidence of cryptic methane cycling occurring within the top 20 cm of sediment in the Santa Barbara Basin. The rapid cycling of carbon between methanogenesis and methanotropy likely prevents major build-up of methane in the sulfate-reducing zone. Furthermore, our data suggest that methylamine is utilized by both methanogenic archaea capable of methylotrophic methanogenesis and non-methanogenic microbial groups. We hypothesize that sulfate reduction is responsible for the additional methylamine turnover, but further investigation is needed to elucidate this metabolic activity.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Coupled methane and NO x conversion on Pt + Pd/Al 2 O 3 monolith: Conversion enhancement through feed modulation and Mn 0.5 Fe 2.5 O 4 spinel addition

The performance of a dual-layer Pt-Pd/Al 2 O 3 washcoated monolith promoted by an Al 2 O 3 -supported Mn 0.5 Fe 2.5 O 4 spinel base layer was evaluated with the objective to develop a catalyst with a lower loading of Platinum group metal (PGM) for stoichiometric natural gas vehicle (NGV) emission control. Flow reactor results show that a combination of a lean/rich modulated feed and spinel addition gives enhanced methane and NO conversions compared to a steady-state feed having the same overall composition. Washcoated catalysts – PGM-only, spinel-only, PGM + spinel – were compared over a wide range of operating conditions. The results show a decrease in the methane conversion light-off temperature of up to 85 °C for an application-relevant feed (CH 4 + NO + H 2 + CO + O 2 + H 2 O + CO 2 ) while a moderate 40 °C decrease was observed for a simple feed (CH 4 + O 2 + H 2 O + CO 2 ). In the absence of spinel the modulation enhancement is negatively impacted at high methane conversion (> 80 %). The data show that the O 2 storage and release property of the spinel is needed to fully exploit the modulation enhancement. The mechanism responsible for the enhancement is linked to suppression of O 2 inhibition on the methane oxidation rate near the stoichiometric neutral point (λ = 1). Sufficiently fast cycling achieves a balance between a metallic and oxidic precious metal crystallites favorable for methane activation. The addition of spinel moves this balance closer to the λ = 1 feed, enabling a high oxidation efficiency with lower byproduct NH 3 selectivity. Enhancement in the NO conversion follows the methane conversion due to an easier NO reduction under the slightly rich of stoichiometric feed. Comparison of the PGM + spinel catalysts to PGM-only catalysts shows that the addition of spinel in combination with modulation can achieve the same activity with a lower PGM loading.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Integrated Methane Monitoring Platform Extension, Volume I: Final Technical Report

The IMMPE project, DE-FE0032284, was to enhance methane monitoring technologies and their applications across various natural gas asset classes. The scope included deploying advanced methane detection and monitoring technologies to identify and mitigate fugitive methane emissions, measuring emission rates, and assessing impacts. The findings included the successful mitigation of identified emissions and quantification of emission rates. A key outcome was the development of a comprehensive template and summary of recommendations for methane emissions monitoring, which is replicable for both upstream and downstream applications. Furthermore, the project emphasized the importance of education by providing training opportunities for technicians and regulators, thereby fostering awareness and promoting the adoption of cost-effective methane emissions monitoring and management techniques.

02 PETROLEUM↗

DOE OSTI2023

Marginal Damage of Methane Emissions: Ozone Impacts on Agriculture

Methane directly contributes to air pollution, as an ozone precursor, and to climate change, generating physical and economic damages to different systems, namely agriculture, vegetation, energy, human health, or biodiversity. The methane-related damages to climate, measured as the Social Cost of Methane, and to human health have been analyzed by different studies and considered by government rulemaking in the last decades, but the ozone-related damages to crop revenues associated to methane emissions have not been incorporated to policy agenda. Using a combination of the Global Change Analysis Model and the TM5-FASST Scenario Screening Tool, we estimate that global marginal agricultural damages range from ~ 423 to 556 $2010/t-CH 4 , of which 98 $2010/t-CH 4 occur in the USA, which is the most affected region due to its role as a major crop producer, followed by China, EU-15, and India. These damages would represent 39–59% of the climate damages and 28–64% of the human health damages associated with methane emissions by previous studies. The marginal damages to crop revenues calculated in this study complement the damages from methane to climate and human health, and provides valuable information to be considered in future cost-benefits analyses.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗