[font face=Serif][font size=5]Four Corners methane hotspot points to coal-related sources[/font]
[font size=4]Methane is very efficient at trapping heat in the atmosphere and, like carbon dioxide, it contributes to global warming.[/font]
October 14, 2014
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Methane detected 3 times larger than predicted using EPA inventory[/font]
[font size=3]LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Oct. 14, 2014—A large, persistent methane hot spot has existed over the Four Corners area of the US Southwest for almost a decade, confirmed by remote regional-scale ground measurements of the gas.
“A detailed analysis indicates that methane emissions in the region are actually three times larger than reported by EPA. Our analysis demonstrates that current EPA inventories are missing huge methane sources in the region,” said Manvendra Dubey, a Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist on the project. “We attribute this hot spot to fugitive leaks from coal-bed methane that actually preceded recent concerns about potential emissions from fracking,” Dubey said.
A team of LANL, NASA and University of Michigan scientists reported these results in the journal
Geophysical Research Letters. Methane is very efficient at trapping heat in the atmosphere and, like carbon dioxide, it contributes to global warming.
The hot spot, near the Four Corners intersection of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, covers about 2,500 square miles (6,500 square kilometers), or half the size of Connecticut. The Los Alamos measurement ground site was located near the community of Waterflow at the New Mexico Environment Department’s San Juan monitoring site, close to two coal-fired power plants. This is an extensive coal-mining region with historically large coal-bed methane production.
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