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    Energy and Climate

    Methane Emissions from Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells in California
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    • Eric D. Lebel*
      Eric D. Lebel
      Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California, United States
      *Email: [email protected]
      More by Eric D. Lebel
      Orcidhttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-5255-6893
    • Harmony S. Lu
      Harmony S. Lu
      Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California, United States
      More by Harmony S. Lu
    • Lisa Vielstädte
      Lisa Vielstädte
      Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California, United States
      More by Lisa Vielstädte
    • Mary Kang
      Mary Kang
      Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California, United States
      Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, McGill University, Montreal H3A 0G4, Quebec, Canada
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    • Peter Banner
      Peter Banner
      Support Resources, Inc., Malibu 90265, California, United States
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    • Marc L. Fischer
      Marc L. Fischer
      Air Quality Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis 95616, United States
      Energy Technology Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley 94720, California, United States
      More by Marc L. Fischer
      Orcidhttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-7956-2361
    • Robert B. Jackson
      Robert B. Jackson
      Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California, United States
      Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California, United States
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    Environmental Science & Technology

    Cite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2020, 54, 22, 14617–14626
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    https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c05279
    Published October 30, 2020
    Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society
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    Abstract

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    California hosts ∼124,000 abandoned and plugged (AP) oil and gas wells, ∼38,000 idle wells, and ∼63,000 active wells, whose methane (CH4) emissions remain largely unquantified at levels below ∼2 kg CH4 h–1. We sampled 121 wells using two methods: a rapid mobile plume integration method (detection ∼0.5 g CH4 h–1) and a more sensitive static flux chamber (detection ∼1 × 10–6 g CH4 h–1). We measured small but detectable methane emissions from 34 of 97 AP wells (mean emission: 0.286 g CH4 h–1). In contrast, we found emissions from 11 of 17 idle wells—which are not currently producing (mean: 35.4 g CH4 h–1)—4 of 6 active wells (mean: 189.7 g CH4 h–1), and one unplugged well—an open casing with no infrastructure present (10.9 g CH4 h–1). Our results support previous findings that emissions from plugged wells are low but are more substantial from idle wells. In addition, our smaller sample of active wells suggests that their reported emissions are consistent with previous studies and deserve further attention. Due to limited access, we could not measure wells in most major active oil and gas fields in California; therefore, we recommend additional data collection from all types of wells but especially active and idle wells.

    Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society

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    Supporting Information

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    The Supporting Information is available free of charge at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.0c05279.

    • Additional details about the methodology, including the geomagnetic surveys, chambers, mobile plume integrator; analyzers used; and description of the tar pit in Los Angeles County (PDF)

    • Spreadsheet containing specific emissions measurements for individual wells measured in this study (XLSX)

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    Cite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2020, 54, 22, 14617–14626
    Click to copy citationCitation copied!
    https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c05279
    Published October 30, 2020
    Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society
    Request reuse permissions

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