Startling study finds US fertilizer industry emits 100 times more methane than estimated

[Judi Lynn]

Rich Haridy
2 hours ago

A disturbing new study from researchers at Cornell University and the Environment Defense Fund has independently measured methane emissions from a number of ammonia fertilizer plants. The startling results suggest methane emissions are 100 times higher than industry estimates, and three times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency's estimate for all industry methane emissions in the United States.

Although the volume of methane emitted into the atmosphere by humans is much less than the amount of carbon dioxide released, it is a significantly more potent greenhouse gas – it is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide and some suggest around 25 percent of manmade global warming is caused by methane emissions.

This new study set out to add some much needed objective measurements to an understudied sector of methane emissions: industrial users of natural gas. The majority of prior research has examined methane emissions at earlier points in the natural gas supply chain, including measurements at points of production and distribution. Methane emissions have also begun to be effectively tracked in residential and commercial areas.

To explore methane emissions from industrial users of natural gas the researchers used new methane-sensing equipment recently installed into some Google Street View cars. Fertilizer factories were identified as targets as they are a major user of natural gas, and six representative factories were selected, out of around two dozen in the United States. The sensor vehicles traveled on public roads near the factories to quantify downwind methane emissions escaping due to leaks, incomplete combustion, or inefficient chemical reactions during fertilizer production.

More:
https://newatlas.com/fertilizer-methane-emissions-100-times-higher/60029/

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