(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Gulf of Mexico, oil and gas emissions, have twice the warming impact than officials report [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2023-04-04  

Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman philosopher, orator, politician and tutor to the Emperor Nero, stands in a bowl of warm water, preparing for death. Though retired from public life, the Spanish-born ‘Roman Socrates’ had been implicated in the Pisonian Conspiracy of AD 65 against his former pupil. As befits a senior Roman figure, he had been ‘invited’ to take his own life. The veins of his arms, wrists and legs were opened and he stepped into the warm water, eventually bleeding to death.

“It would be some consolation for the feebleness of our selves and our works if all things should perish as slowly as they come into being; but as it is, increases are of sluggish growth, but the way to ruin is rapid.” Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca

A study from The University of Michigan reports that methane and carbon dioxide emissions are twice as reported in official estimates. The Gulf of Mexico is the largest oil and gas production basin in the United States, producing 97 percent of the country’s oil and gas on the outer continental shelf.

The findings may impact future extraction in the Gulf as that depends “on climate impact calculations.

The University of Michigan Presser:

To conduct their atmospheric measurements, the researchers flew upward and downward in a cylindrical pattern around the platforms and measured amounts of both carbon dioxide and methane being released. They combined aircraft measurements with all previous field surveys to gather the largest sample size of Gulf of Mexico platform GHG emissions. Their observations quickly put a spotlight on certain oil and gas producing operations. "What we found is that a certain type of shallow water platform had large methane emissions that elevated total greenhouse gas emissions for the entire Gulf of Mexico," said Eric Kort, U-M associate professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, principal investigator of the F3UEL project and corresponding author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "So if we can direct mitigation efforts at those sources to address the problem, it could have a huge positive effect." "What we found is that a certain type of shallow water platform had large methane emissions that elevated total greenhouse gas emissions for the entire Gulf of Mexico," said Eric Kort, U-M associate professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, principal investigator of the F3UEL project and corresponding author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "So if we can direct mitigation efforts at those sources to address the problem, it could have a huge positive effect." These sources are larger "central-hub" multiplatform complexes that collect oil and gas from small production platforms for processing. Sampling showed these emit more methane than expected, due to direct venting into the atmosphere or releases from tanks and other equipment.

Reducing the harm of these gases from the Gulf by available technology and action on the climate is called “low-hanging fruit.” Whether the fossil fuel industry squeals and throws tantrums will determine this easy-fix implementation as they have the bought and paid-for powerful influencers in and out of government on their side.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/4/4/2161988/-Gulf-of-Mexico-oil-and-gas-emissions-have-twice-the-warming-impact-than-officials-report

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/