Barnett Shale Energy Education Council
A battery of air tests during the simultaneous hydraulic fracturing of 5 Barnett Shale natural gas wells and the subsequent initial flowback period is one of the largest scale air testing projects of its kind. Modern Geosciences, a respected environmental testing firm that has been doing quarterly and monthly air testing for the Town of Flower Mound for 6 years, conducted the project. The air studies in Mansfield were requested by the operator of the wells, Beacon E&P, a Colorado-based company that has offices in Fort Worth and operations in the Barnett Shale region in North Texas.
Read MorePeople often question why vapor recovery units (VRUs) are not required for natural gas wells in Denton and others areas of the Barnett Shale. The answer is twofold. Firstly, VRUs are designed to capture vapor from liquid storage tanks used in the oil and gas industry. Secondly, the natural gas produced in many parts of the Barnett Shale is “dry,” meaning that little condensate or liquids are produced – so liquid storage tanks are not always present. In many cases, if a well does produce condensate, it is usually minimal and only in the first four to six months of a new well.
Read MoreThe Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) shared this informative graphic that shows how much land is required to produce enough energy to power 8,000 homes for a year.
Read MoreThe energy industry is substantially reducing methane emissions from natural gas and oil production and is expected to continue reducing emissions, says an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report released September 30, 2014.
Read MoreNatural gas vehicles are cost efficient and boast low emissions, and it seems that Texas has caught on. Sales of natural gas as a motor fuel are surging in Texas. In October 2013, Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter launched a natural gas initiative to promote natural gas as a transportation fuel throughout the state of Texas, and recent reports are promising.
Read MoreIt may not be widely known, but the air in the Barnett Shale area of North Texas is the most monitored air in the U.S. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has installed a system of 15 permanent automated gas chromatograph (AutoGC) stations in the Barnett Shale area that take air samples every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The data is available to the public online. In addition to these AutoGCs, TCEQ also operates a network of volatile organic compound canister air sampling stations that also take air samples.
Read MoreOn February 24, 2014, the EPA released its latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which shows that methane emissions from natural gas systems have declined significantly in recent years, thanks to new technologies and voluntary efforts by oil and natural gas producers. Even more impressive is that these reductions have been made as natural gas production has increased significantly.
Read MoreA new and important study of the air quality in the Barnett Shale was released by Houston-based ToxStrategies, Inc. This study, published in the peer-reviewed “Science of The Total Environment,” is the first large-scale evaluation based on extensive measurements of ambient air in a shale gas producing area.
Read MoreRecently, there has been good news and bad news regarding emissions of carbon dioxide in the United States and the world. The good news is that last year, America’s carbon dioxide emissions fell to their lowest levels since 1994, according to a new Energy Information Administration (EIA) report. Additionally, carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. have declined 13 percent in the past five years.
Read MoreThe Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) operates seven continuous air monitors in the Barnett Shale area in North Texas. TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw, Ph.D., has said in the past that the number of continuous air monitors, or automatic gas chromatographs, makes the Barnett Shale air the most monitored air in the country.
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