NETL has updated a previous life cycle analysis (LCA) focused on production, gathering and boosting, processing, transmission and storage, and distribution of natural gas to domestic consumers. The new research expands the LCA to include additional information and tools focused on natural gas extraction and power generation, which will help industry work toward decarbonizing the natural gas sector.

LCA reports and tools allow decision-makers to evaluate the consequences of policy, guide research and identify opportunities for improvement. LCA includes the environmental burdens of converting fuel to useful energy, infrastructure construction, extraction and transportation of fuel and transport of the final energy product to the end user. Environmental burdens comprise emissions to air and water, water use and land use.

The previous research, published in the report “Life Cycle Analysis of Natural Gas Extraction and Power Generation,” sought to represent the 2016 U.S. natural gas supply chain from a life cycle perspective. This report represents 2020 U.S. natural gas supply using data from the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program and Greenhouse Gas Inventory, publicly available measurement-based studies of natural gas production components, EnverusTM (formerly DrillingInfoTM), and the Energy Information Administration. These sources provide information on equipment counts, emission events and natural gas throughput for all supply chain stages.

“Along with providing an analysis with updated data, we are also improving transparency by providing spreadsheets containing the data for all graphs in the report, model results data for all scenarios examined, and some additional explanation for portions of the analysis,” said NETL’s Harshvardhan Khutal, lead author of the report, “And as with the last version of the report, we released the Microsoft® Excel-based life cycle model.”

“This report continues the Lab’s important and relied-upon LCA research, specifically related to natural gas,” Khutal said. “Natural gas is still widely used in residential, commercial, industrial and transportation applications, and because its primary component is methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, it is critical to fully understand the output of emissions from extraction through power generation. The information and analysis in this updated report can be used as a powerful tool for decarbonization.”

Access the updated report, with a new appendix, here.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers solutions for a clean and secure energy future. By leveraging its highly skilled innovators and state-of-the-art research facilities, NETL is advancing carbon management and resource sustainability technologies to enable environmental sustainability for all Americans.