Large Fugitive Methane Emissions From Urban Centers Along the U.S. East Coast.

ABSTRACT: Urban emissions remain an underexamined part of the methane budget. Here we present and interpret aircraft observations of six old and leak-prone major cities along the East Coast of the United States. We use direct observations of methane (CH₄), carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), ethane (C₂H₆), and their correlations to quantify CH₄ emissions and attribute to natural gas. We find the five largest cities emit 0.85 (0.63, 1.12) Tg CH₄/year, of which 0.75 (0.49, 1.10) Tg CH₄/year is attributed to natural gas. Our estimates, which include all thermogenic methane sources including end use, are more than twice that reported in the most recent gridded EPA inventory, which does not include end-use emissions. The

SUBMITTER: Plant G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6853254 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature