Estimation of methane emissions and investigation of isotopic composition of methane from selected sources in Germany, Poland and Romania

Diese Studie quantifiziert die Methanemissionsraten aus anthropogenen Quellen in Europa. Regelmäßige mobile Messkampagnen wurden an lokalen Quellen wie Milchviehbetrieben, Biogasanlagen, Deponien und Gaskompressorstationen durchgeführt um die Methanemissionsraten und ihre isotopische Quellensignatur zu quantifizieren. Während zweier Kampagnen wurden Messungen an Kohlebergwerke in Polen und Öl- und Gasbohrungen in Rumänien durchgeführt, die zu einem großen Anteil zu den fossilen Methanemissionen in Europa beitragen. Zur Abschätzung der Methanemissionsraten wurden zwei Methoden verwendet: Ein Gaußsches Modell und die OTM 33A Methode, die auch bei Experimenten zur kontrollierten CH4-Freisetzung getestet wurden. Beide Methoden liefern zuverlässige Schätzungen der Emissionsraten und können zur Quantifizierung lokaler und regionaler Methanquellen verwendet werden. Die Ergebnisse der geschätzten Methanemissionsraten und Isotopensignaturen zeigen die saisonalen Variationen für Mülldeponien und den signifikanten Beitrag von Methanemissionen aus Biogasanlagen. Die Emissionen der rumänischen Öl und Gasproduktion zeigen ähnliche Werte wie die in den USA gemessenen Emissionen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie wurden im Rahmen des europäischen ITN-Projekts MEMO2 verglichen, und in diese Datenbank berichtet und kann so für politischen Entscheidungsträger dienen wird

Mapping Urban Methane Sources in Paris, France

International audienceMegacities, with their large and complex infrastructures, are significant sources of methane emissions. To develop a simple, low-cost methodology to quantify these globally important methane sources, this study focuses on mobile measurements of methane (CH 4) and its isotopic composition in Paris. Data collected between September 2018 to March 2019 resulted in 17 days of measurements, which provided spatial distribution of street-level methane mixing ratios, source type identification, and emission quantification. Consequently, 90 potential leaks were detected in Paris sorted into three leak categories: natural gas distribution network emissions (63%), sewage network emissions (33%), and emissions from heating furnaces of buildings (4%). The latter category has not previously been reported in urban methane studies. Accounting for the detectable emissions from the ground, the total estimated CH 4 emission rate of Paris was 5000 L/min (190 t/yr), with the largest contribution from gas leaks (56%). This ranks Paris as a city with medium CH 4 emissions. Two areas of clusters were found, where 22% and 56% of the total potential emissions of Paris were observed. Our findings suggest that the natural gas distribution network, the sewage system, and furnaces of buildings are ideal targets for street-level CH 4 emission reduction efforts for Paris

Isotopic characterization of coal mine methane in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, Poland

Emissions from fossil fuels are one of the primary sources of atmospheric methane (CH4) growth. However, estimates of anthropogenic CH4 emissions still show large uncertainties on global and regional scales. Differences in CH4 isotopic source signatures δ13C and δD can help to constrain different source contributions (e.g. fossil, thermogenic, or biogenic). The Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) represents one of the largest European CH4 emission source regions, with more than 500 Gg CH4 yr-1 released by more than 50 coal mine ventilation shafts. During the CoMet (Carbon Dioxide and Methane Mission) campaign in June 2018 methane observations were conducted from a variety of platforms including aircraft and cars. Beside the continuous sampling of atmospheric methane concentration, numerous air samples were taken from inside the ventilation shafts, around the ventilation shafts (1‑2 km distance) and aboard the DLR Cessna Caravan aircraft and analyzed in the laboratory for the isotopic composition of CH4. The ground-based samples allowed determining the source signatures of individual ventilation shafts. These signatures displayed a considerable range between different shafts and also varied from day to day. The airborne samples contained a mixture of methane emissions from several mines and thus enabled accurately determining the signature of the entire region. The mean isotopic signature of methane emissions over the USCB derived from the aircraft samples was -51.9 ± 0.5 ‰ for δ13C and -233 ± 6 ‰ for δD. This is in between the range of other microbial and thermogenic coal reservoirs, but more depleted in δD than previous USCB studies reported based on samples taken within the mines. Signatures of methane enhancements sampled upwind of the mines and in the free troposphere clearly showed the presence of methane of biogenic origin (e.g. wetlands, waste, ruminants). Furthermore, we simulated the methane isotopologues using the on-line three-times nested global regional chemistry climate model MECO(n). We implemented a submodel extension, which includes the kinetic fractionation and uses the isotopic source signatures determined by the ground-based observations. We compare the regional simulations to flask samples taken during CoMet

Isotopic characterization of coal mine methane in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, Poland

Emissions from fossil fuels are one of the primary sources of atmospheric methane (CH4) growth. However, estimates of anthropogenic CH4 emissions still show large uncertainties on global and regional scales. Differences in CH4 isotopic source signatures δ13C and δD can help to constrain different source contributions (e.g. fossil, thermogenic, or biogenic). The Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) represents one of the largest European CH4 emission source regions, with more than 500 Gg CH4 yr-1 released by more than 50 coal mine ventilation shafts. During the CoMet (Carbon Dioxide and Methane Mission) campaign in June 2018 methane observations were conducted from a variety of platforms including aircraft and cars. Beside the continuous sampling of atmospheric methane concentration, numerous air samples were taken from inside the ventilation shafts, around the ventilation shafts (1‑2 km distance) and aboard the DLR Cessna Caravan aircraft and analyzed in the laboratory for the isotopic composition of CH4. The ground-based samples allowed determining the source signatures of individual ventilation shafts. These signatures displayed a considerable range between different shafts and also varied from day to day. The airborne samples contained a mixture of methane emissions from several mines and thus enabled accurately determining the signature of the entire region. The mean isotopic signature of methane emissions over the USCB derived from the aircraft samples was -51.9 ± 0.5 ‰ for δ13C and -233 ± 6 ‰ for δD. This is in between the range of other microbial and thermogenic coal reservoirs, but more depleted in δD than previous USCB studies reported based on samples taken within the mines. Signatures of methane enhancements sampled upwind of the mines and in the free troposphere clearly showed the presence of methane of biogenic origin (e.g. wetlands, waste, ruminants). Furthermore, we simulated the methane isotopologues using the on-line three-times nested global regional chemistry climate model MECO(n). We implemented a submodel extension, which includes the kinetic fractionation and uses the isotopic source signatures determined by the ground-based observations. We compare the regional simulations to flask samples taken during CoMet

Isotopic characterization of coal mine methane in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, Poland

Emissions from fossil fuels are one of the primary sources of atmospheric methane (CH4) growth. However, estimates of anthropogenic CH4 emissions still show large uncertainties on global and regional scales. Differences in CH4 isotopic source signatures δ13C and δD can help to constrain different source contributions (e.g. fossil, thermogenic, or biogenic). The Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) represents one of the largest European CH4 emission source regions, with more than 500 Gg CH4 yr-1 released by more than 50 coal mine ventilation shafts. During the CoMet (Carbon Dioxide and Methane Mission) campaign in June 2018 methane observations were conducted from a variety of platforms including aircraft and cars. Beside the continuous sampling of atmospheric methane concentration, numerous air samples were taken from inside the ventilation shafts, around the ventilation shafts (1‑2 km distance) and aboard the DLR Cessna Caravan aircraft and analyzed in the laboratory for the isotopic composition of CH4. The ground-based samples allowed determining the source signatures of individual ventilation shafts. These signatures displayed a considerable range between different shafts and also varied from day to day. The airborne samples contained a mixture of methane emissions from several mines and thus enabled accurately determining the signature of the entire region. The mean isotopic signature of methane emissions over the USCB derived from the aircraft samples was -51.9 ± 0.5 ‰ for δ13C and -233 ± 6 ‰ for δD. This is in between the range of other microbial and thermogenic coal reservoirs, but more depleted in δD than previous USCB studies reported based on samples taken within the mines. Signatures of methane enhancements sampled upwind of the mines and in the free troposphere clearly showed the presence of methane of biogenic origin (e.g. wetlands, waste, ruminants). Furthermore, we simulated the methane isotopologues using the on-line three-times nested global regional chemistry climate model MECO(n). We implemented a submodel extension, which includes the kinetic fractionation and uses the isotopic source signatures determined by the ground-based observations. We compare the regional simulations to flask samples taken during CoMet

mamenoud/European_Methane_Isotope_Database

Stable isotope (13C and 2H) data of methane (CH4) emission sources. European Methane Isotope Database, based on measurements carried out during the MEMO2 project (https://h2020-memo2.eu) Methane Isotopic signatures from previous literature, reported by Sherwood et al. (2017, 2021), and in other literature sources. Sherwood, O.A., Schwietzke, S., Arling, V.A., Etiope, G., 2017. Global Inventory of Gas Geochemistry Data from Fossil Fuel, Microbial and Burning Sources, version 2017. Earth Syst. Sci. Data 9, 639–656. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-639-2017 Sherwood, O.A., Schwietzke, S., Lan, X., 2021. Global δ13C-CH4 source signature inventory 2020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.15138/qn55-e01