Also: shale gas, gas hydrates, methane ice, anaerobic oxidation of methane
Natural gas is mostly methane. Under cold, high-pressure conditions it gets trapped in ice-like crystals called hydrates.
Only what the cited papers report.
Values as stated in the cited paper's abstract.
| Property | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Shale-gas methane leakage (estimate) | 3.6–7.9% | Howarth 2011 |
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Sloan reviewed natural gas hydrates: a pipeline flow and safety problem, a largely untapped energy resource, and a possible factor in climate change.
As reported in: Sloan (2003). Fundamental principles and applications of natural gas hydrates. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature02135
Abstract only
Boetius and colleagues described a marine consortium of archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria that apparently carries out anaerobic oxidation of methane.
As reported in: Boetius, Ravenschlag, Schubert et al. (2000). A marine microbial consortium apparently mediating anaerobic oxidation of methane. Nature. doi:10.1038/35036572
Abstract only
Howarth and colleagues estimated 3.6–7.9% of methane from shale-gas wells escapes to the atmosphere over a well's lifetime, giving shale gas a larger 20-year greenhouse footprint than conventional gas, oil or coal. Cathles and colleagues (2012, doi:10.1007/s10584-011-0333-0) argued these fugitive-emission estimates were significantly overestimated.
As reported in: Howarth, Santoro, Ingraffea (2011). Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations. Climatic Change. doi:10.1007/s10584-011-0061-5