Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Oil, Gas, and Energy
Technological Maturity of Aircraft-Based Methane Sensing for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation
Published: 2023-06-22
Subjects: Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Oil, Gas, and Energy
Methane is a major contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Identifying large sources of methane, particularly from the oil and gas sector, will be essential for mitigating climate change. Aircraft-based methane sensing platforms can rapidly detect and quantify methane point-source emissions across large geographic regions, playing an increasingly important role in industrial [...]
Carbon Utilization and Storage through Rehabilitation of Groundwater Wells
Published: 2023-05-21
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Hydrology, Longitudinal Data Analysis and Time Series, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models, Statistics and Probability
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations (UN), rise in atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) due to anthropogenic factors is considered as the primary driver for global climate change. With almost every major corporation around the world working towards their “net-zero goals”, it is becoming increasingly important to have more [...]
Single-Blind Detection, Localization, and Quantification of Methane Emissions Using Continuous Path-Integrated Column Measurements
Published: 2023-04-13
Subjects: Environmental Monitoring, Oil, Gas, and Energy
Path-integrated column measurements with a laser absorption-based measurement system have been used to detect, locate, and quantify methane emissions from a series of single-blind controlled releases with no prior knowledge of timing, locations, or release rates. System performance was evaluated against metrics defined in the Continuous Monitoring Protocol established by the Colorado State [...]
Consolidated Geothermal Database UK (CGD-UK): A digital open license database for temperature and thermal conductivity in the UK.
Published: 2023-04-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Natural Resource Economics, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Earth Sciences, Tectonics and Structure
Variations in subsurface heat flow within the upper crust control the distribution of geothermal resources. Development of a robust understanding of these variations requires reliable measurements of temperature and thermal conductivity. To date, measurements of temperature and conductivity onshore the UK have been unavailable in an accessible, clearly structured digital format. Here, we rectify [...]
Revisiting the Climate Narrative
Published: 2023-04-06
Subjects: Agriculture, Climate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Studies, Food Science, Forest Management, Hydrology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Environmental Sciences, Soil Science, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide is chiefly tied to land stewardship. Farmers and loggers have removed the plants that, until the industrial era, kept the soil fungi alive, kept soil emissions nearby by breaking the wind, and soaked those up. The result is plumes of carbon dioxide. Putting plants back in would curb these emissions. Farmers and loggers could address biodiversity loss [...]
Greenhouse gas intensity of geologic hydrogen produced from subsurface deposits
Published: 2023-03-23
Subjects: Environmental Engineering, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Oil, Gas, and Energy
Geologic hydrogen (H2) deposits could be a source of climate friendly energy. In this work, we perform a prospective life cycle assessment of a generic geologic hydrogen production and processing system. While it is still too early in the development cycle to estimate precise life-cycle carbon intensities (CI) we can use fundamental engineering physics and chemistry to estimate CI. Our baseline [...]
Evaluating methane emission quantification performance and uncertainty of aerial technologies via high-volume single-blind controlled releases
Published: 2023-03-10
Subjects: Oil, Gas, and Energy
Methane (CH4) from oil and gas (O&G) activities is a known contributor to global anthropogenic methane emissions and recent research has demonstrated that a small fraction of large emitters contribute to the majority of total emissions. In this study, we perform a single-blind evaluation of the quantification capabilities of three airplane-based technologies (Bridger Photonics’ Gas Mapping LiDAR, [...]
An Updated Parametrization of Algorithms to Retrieve the Diffuse Attenuation of Light in the Ocean from Remote Sensing and its Impact on Estimates of Net Primary Productivity
Published: 2023-02-10
Subjects: Climate, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Environmental Sciences
We recently found a significant bias while validating frequently used ocean color algorithms retrieving the spectral diffuse attenuation coefficient (Kd(λ))(Begouen and Boss, 2022). Here we modify existing algorithms for Kd(λ) to remove the observed bias at Kd(490), and evaluate the impact on global and regional estimates of net primary production (NPP) using two different primary production [...]
Extension of Methane Emission Rate Distribution for Permian Basin Oil and Gas Production Infrastructure by Aerial LiDAR
Published: 2023-01-10
Subjects: Environmental Monitoring, Oil, Gas, and Energy
Aerial LiDAR measurements at 7474 oil and gas production facilities in the Permian Basin yield a measured methane emission rate distribution extending to the detection sensitivity of the method, 2 kg/h at 90% probability of detection. Emissions are found at 38.3% of facilities scanned, a significantly higher proportion than reported in lower-sensitivity campaigns. LiDAR measurements are analyzed [...]
Laboratory validation of a new hydro-mechanical energy-based brittleness index model for hydraulic fracturing
Published: 2022-12-01
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Engineering Science and Materials, Mining Engineering, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Petroleum Engineering
Brittleness Index (BI) is a critical parameter characterising the deformation regime of geo-materials, covering the range from purely brittle (fractures) to ductile (plastic flow). A variety of BI models have been developed based on rock properties such as mineralogy, elastic parameters, or stress-strain data. However, very few of them are based on the deformation induced by hydro-mechanical [...]
How reproducible and reliable is geophysical research? A review of the availability and accessibility of data and software for research published in journals
Published: 2022-11-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability
Geophysical research frequently makes use of agreed methodologies, formally published software, and bespoke code to process and analyse data. The reliability and repeatability of these methods is vital in maintaining the integrity of research findings and thereby avoiding the dissemination of unreliable results. In recent years there has been increased attention on aspects of reproducibility, [...]
Trait-based modeling revealed higher microbial diversity leads to greater ecological resilience in response to an ecosystem disturbance
Published: 2022-10-15
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Microbiology, Oceanography, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
To quantitatively understand the ecological resilience of an ecosystem with specialized habitats, we focused on deep-sea microbial communities and simulated the response of diverse microbes in specialized habitats to a pulse ecosystem disturbance - the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Two microbial communities with equivalent metabolic libraries were acclimated to the presence [...]
Geochemical evidence for the nonexistence of supercritical geothermal fluids at the Yangbajing geothermal field, southern Tibet
Published: 2022-07-07
Subjects: Hydrology, Oil, Gas, and Energy
Exploring and exploiting high-temperature (even supercritical) geothermal resources are significant to meet energy demands and reduce carbon emissions. The Yangbajing geothermal field is the most exploited in China, with the currently highest temperature (329.8 °C) measured in a geothermal well. However, whether there are supercritical geothermal fluids beneath the deep parts of this geothermal [...]
Robust Probabilities of Detection and Quantification Uncertainty for Aerial Methane Detection: Examples for Three Airborne Technologies
Published: 2022-06-17
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Environmental Monitoring, Mechanical Engineering, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models
Thorough characterization of probabilities of detection (POD) and quantification uncertainties is fundamentally important to understand the place of aerial measurement technologies in alternative means of emission limitation (AMEL) or alternate fugitive emissions management programs (Alt-FEMP); monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) efforts; and surveys designed to support [...]
Methane Emissions from the Fossil Fuel Industries of the Russian Federation
Published: 2022-05-19
Subjects: Climate, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Oil, Gas, and Energy
Methane is second only to carbon dioxide as a driver of human-induced climate change. Moreover, reducing the rate of methane emissions is the fastest and least disruptive way to moderate global temperature rise over the next several decades. The production of fossil fuels – principally coal, oil, and natural gas – is among the main sources of anthropogenic methane. As one of the world’s largest [...]