About 2% of natural gas supplied to a Midwest city leaks into the atmosphere
Most natural gas leakage in Indianapolis likely originates from homes and other buildings, not exterior pipelines and large-scale distribution infrastructure that deliver the fossil fuel, according to Penn State researchers who assessed nearly a decade of data.
Approximately 2% of natural gas distributed to Indianapolis leaks into the atmosphere, according to researchers from Penn State University. This significant percentage of unaccounted emissions is more than double the estimated 0.8% of such leaks reported nationally by the Environmental Protection Agency. The majority of these leaks are believed to originate from residential buildings and interior gas pipelines, rather than exterior distribution systems, the study found.
The research, which spanned a decade and relied on a network of monitoring towers across the city, provides a reliable method for quantifying urban methane emissions. These emissions, primarily methane, have 28 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide over a century timescale, data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates.
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