Methane pollution in Australia

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CSG study finds elevated methane levels near gas fields

Fresh clouds over CSG industry: A Santos employee near Narrabri in northern NSW. Photo: Rob Homer

SMH,

19 November, 2014

Methane levels near coal seam gas fields in Australia have been found to be as much as triple normal levels, raising renewed doubts about the global-warming benefits of using the gas compared with other energy sources.

The findings of elevated levels of methane and carbon dioxide from the Tara gas field near Condamine in Queensland were originally made public by researchers at the South Cross University two years ago, sparking an angry response from industry and government.

Described at the time as a world-first finding, the researchers were attacked by then federal energy minister Martin Ferguson for releasing research before it had been peer-reviewed.

Anti-CSG protester near AGL's proposed gas field near Gloucester in NSW. Photo: Dean Sewell

"Let's have a factual, scientific debate, not an emotional debate, because there is too much at risk and the community expects that approach to life," Mr Ferguson said. "Conduct yourself in a professional way and focus on the outcome, not short-lived media opportunities."

Industry group, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA), also wrote to Peter Lee, vice chancellor of SCU, accusing the researchers of sloppy work.

Those findings, though, have now been published in the Water, Air and Soil Pollution journal. "It's exactly the same data that we presented then," said Damien Maher, a researcher at the SCU's Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry Research, and one of the paper's authors.

Methane triples

Deploying sensitive equipment, the researchers travelled hundreds of kilometres through the Tara gas field and an exploration field in Casino in northern NSW to gather air samples.

The results found methane levels as high as 6.89 parts per million, or more than triple the background levels of about 1.8 ppm. Carbon dioxide levels reached as high as 541 ppm, or approaching a 50 per cent increase compared with general conditions.

Dr Maher said the research could not identify the source of the higher methane levels although the chemical fingerprints – specifically the isotope of the gas – matched that of the CSG being produced from the field.

"As soon as we left the gas field, we didn't see any of the increased concentration of the gases," he said.

"We can't definitely say that it is due to the mining," Dr Maher said, adding that the results suggest baseline work is needed before CSG fields are developed to identify fugitive emissions.

The findings are likely to stoke concerns among residents living near existing or proposed CSG fields.  They are also likely to renew doubts that CSG producers will deliver a lighter greenhouse gas "footprint" than other fossil fuels such as coal. Rising greenhouse gases, mostly from human activity, are blamed for lifting global temperatures and causing climate change.

"Data from this study indicates that unconventional gas may drive large-scale increases in atmospheric [methane] and [carbon dioxide] concentrations, which need to be accounted for when determining the net GHG impact of using unconventional gas sources," the paper, which includes Isaac Santos and Douglas Tait as authors, said.

Potent gas

Along with CO2, methane levels are now at their highest atmosphere levels in about 800,000 years, with their increase about 2.5-fold since pre-industrial times. Methane is much more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2, with a global-warming impact about 72 times that of CO2 over a 20-year period, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"We now know that communities in NSW on the front line of coal seam gas field developments are staring down the barrel of likely gas leaks, with potential health and bushfire risks from the methane," Naomi Hogan, a campaign manager with The Wilderness Society, said.

"The myth of coal seam gas as a solution to climate change is quickly unravelling, as new research comes to light across the world of the greenhouse gas emissions from the gas fields," Ms Hogan said, adding that the peer-reviewed study is now one of hundreds pointing to problems with unconventional gas extraction. 

CSIRO study

Industry groups have pointed to a CSIRO study released in June that attempted to quantify the size of methane leaks from equipment and wellheads at CSG sites in Australia.

The university study "does nothing to alter the fact natural gas is a cleaner burning energy source than coal," a spokesmand for APPEA said. APPEA said natural gas generally produces greenhouse gas emissions 50-70 per cent lower than coal.

"The initial work done by the CSIRO is far more technically rigorous," the spokesman said, noting the detected emissions from wellheads "is about the same as daily methan emissions from four cows".

       

The study of 43 wells, mostly in Queensland, found leaking in all but three of them. The leakage for most of the wells was found to be "quite low, especially when compared to the volume of gas produced", the CSIRO report concluded.

The study, though, noted that further investigation was needed, not least because "only a very small proprotion" of the total number of wells in production were tested, with many new ones to be drilled.     

"The small sample examined during this study may not be truly representative of the total well population," the CSIRO report said.

Dr Maher from the SCU said the CSIRO research had focused on wellheads, and not the overall gas field.

"It's a matter of scale," Dr Maher said. "They measured a small number of wells and were working closely with industry." 

"We were measuring [concentrations] at scale," he said.

Santos, a CSG developer, also backed the CSIRO report that identified leakage of 0.02 per cent of the output from the 43 wells.

"Santos is committed to high-quality industry practice and implementing best technologies to avoid fugitive emissions," a spokesman said.

'Like a sieve'

Greens Senator Larissa Waters said the federal government should be staffing CSIRO to investigate fully the impacts of CSG.

"Instead, both this government and the previous government have taken an approach of 'shoot first and ask questions later', not only when it comes to climate impacts, but also water, land and human health impacts." Senator Waters said.

"Big mining company spin doctors tell us that coal seam gas is better for the climate but in reality it leaks methane like a sieve," Senator Waters said. 

Her NSW counterpart, Greens upper house MP Jeremy Buckingham said the US has found its shale gas boom to have created myriad problems that Australians should avoid repeating here.

"The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recently released hundreds of reports of water contamination caused by unconventional gas drilling and fracking," Mr Buckingham said.

"This is an industry that seriously pollutes the environment and should be stopped in its tracks."

Fairfax Media also sought comment from Ian Macfarlane, Mr Ferguson's successor as federal energy minister.