© Jim Urquhart / ReutersA natural gas well platform owned by Encana north of Parachute, Colorado.
From Boston to Dallas, hundreds of methane leaks were detected by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) during a 30-month pilot research project on the gas and its contribution to greenhouse emissions.
EDF released its latest map for Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, which showed the
locations of hundreds of underground gas leaks.
For research data, EDF partnered with Google Earth Outreach and Atmos Energy, which operates local gas pipelines in Dallas. By placing gas sensors on cars that provide mapping for Google Street View, EDF gathered data for more than a year. The testing was conducted in 17 Dallas neighborhoods, though not citywide, covering 700 miles between January and February of 2015.
"Smaller or more remote leaks can go undetected or unrepaired for long periods," said EDF in a
statement.
The Dallas map shows dots of yellow, orange and red. Yellow dots mean the methane leak is low, orange indicates a medium leak, and red dots show large leaks.
While such leaks don't pose immediate health hazards, the emissions are not good for the environment. Methane is 84 percent more potent than carbon dioxide and makes up about 25 percent of all emissions. Apart from the environmental destruction, there is a cost to residents.
"This is absolutely not a safety issue," Jennifer Altieri, an Atmos spokeswoman
told the Dallas Morning News.
"We really don't want to scare the public."
Comment: As well as methane leaking from crumbling pipework infrastructure as the study indicates, natural 'outgassing' of methane and other natural gases, could be contributing to some of the explosions and fires we are currently witnessing.
Final death toll from massive Harlem explosion: 8 - Cause remains unknown, but investigators suspect natural outgassing after discovering unusually high levels of methane in soil
Along with massive wildfires, sinkholes swallowing cars and streets, the 'crater-holes' exploding in Russia, increased earthquakes and volcanism globally, pockets of methane/natural gas seem to be coming to the surface and occasionally igniting.
This simply cannot all be attributed to an increase in 'greenhouse emissions'...
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