Facilitating significant emission reductions, funding important conservation programs, and providing reliable, clean energy to consumers everywhere, Pennsylvania’s shale developers produce, process and transport abundant natural gas resources in the cleanest, safest and most efficient way possible.
If we are to be serious about addressing climate change and improving the quality of air that we all breathe, then “natural gas is the sharpest tool that we have,” Marcellus Shale Coalition President Dave Callahan told WPHT Philadelphia. And while independent data and research repeatedly confirms the environmental benefits of natural gas, it’s the high bar the industry sets for itself and the innovative investment-driven operational improvements that are behind this success.
It’s a key reason why Appalachia – the nation’s largest natural gas producing Basin – has managed to lead in environmental performance and production over the years. Consider, as production increased 13% between 2018 and 2020, greenhouse gas emissions intensity saw a 20% decline. And in 2021, operators reduced methane intensity even more by 11%. This translates into fewer emissions, greater efficiencies, and improved air quality, benefitting all stakeholders.
Enhancing access to American energy while protecting the environment are shared goals, and the industry prides itself on the voluntary efforts made by operators to operate responsibly and reduce emissions, complementing the state’s already stringent regulatory framework.
Specific to Pennsylvania, more than 40 laws and 28 permitting packages regulating the sector along with several technical guidance documents are assessed before any activity takes place. While regulations are one thing, compliance is another and MSC members continually earn a 96%+ compliance rate with the state Department of Environmental Protection – one of the highest compliance rates of any industry operating in Pennsylvania.
Private sector-driven efficiencies are a key reason Pennsylvania’s air, land and water are in better shape now than ever before. Operators have been replacing pneumatic valve devices, helping to reduce emissions. Additionally, companies are employing electric drilling and electric hydraulic fracturing units, partnering with third parties to monitor emissions at the site-level and making efforts to plug legacy abandoned wells in the region – wells which pose both a public safety and environmental concern.
Pipeline companies have also been working tirelessly to reduce methane emissions, with operators implementing new programs that target emissions coming from gathering lines and processing facilities. Additionally, member companies have enhanced their leak detection programs and have partnered together in a methane coalition that works to identify and address methane emissions in the Appalachia basin.
And, as more responsibly produced natural gas is used in power generation, volatile organic compounds (VOC) have dropped 40% since 2005 on top of the 44% decrease that took place from greenhouse gases from 2005 to 2020.
The increase in production has not only assisted with U.S. environmental goals, but global ones too.
Recently, the United States became the world’s largest exporter of liquified natural gas, which not only benefits our economy but aids are allies while protecting our shared environment at the same time. The U.S. is helping Europe replace Russian natural gas while having a positive impact on the environment, considering U.S. natural gas carries a methane intensity that is 65% lower than Russia’s. As extreme activists work to halt continued development of our domestic energy resources, it’s important to note energy development will take place in countries that put less emphasis on being environmentally conscious.
“As the largest natural gas producing region, with the greenest environmental profile in the country, our three states -Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia- have the tools to solve global energy woes,” MSC’s Callahan wrote in a joint op-ed.
“However, policymakers must do more to enable this American energy progress to deliver even more benefits for our economy, our people, our allies and our environment by approving needed infrastructure, expanding export capacity and increasing domestic natural gas production,” they continued.
