Analysis of methane and ethane data from dozens of plume transects, collected during 13 research - aircraft flights between 7 November 2015 and 13 February 2016, shows atmospheric leak rates of up to 60 metric tons of methane and 4.5 metric
tons of ethane per hour.
At its peak, during the first six weeks of the leak, the well spewed some 59 metric tons (65 short tons) of methane and 4.4 metric tons
of ethane per hour, the researchers now say.
What they found in the skies over the Bakken that May was the equivalent of 1 to 3 percent of the world's estimated
emissions of ethane floating over a relatively tiny place.
The US exported close to 3 million
barrels of ethane in H1 2017, a rise of 83 % year - on - year.
The Cassini spacecraft has since spotted
lakes of ethane, making Titan the only world other than Earth known to have bodies of liquid on its surface.
It is primarily composed of methane, with small
amounts of ethane, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide also part of its chemical makeup.
The Study: «The
Sequestration of Ethane on Titan in Smog Particles» by Donald M. Hunten, published in the journal Nature.
Hunten contends that
molecules of ethane can't form droplets, so they instead cling to smog particles in Titan's atmosphere.
Using radar, infrared, and visual imaging, Cassini has revealed a
string of ethane and methane lakes on Titan, making it the only other known world with bodies of liquid on its surface.
If they are clouds, they're probably
made of ethane, acetylene or hydrogen cyanide, based on what researchers have learned about Pluto's atmosphere — though they might not be clouds, just reflective splotches on
By also measuring
levels of ethane (C2H6) and perchloroethylene, or perc, (C2Cl4) the researchers determined that these pulses in methane levels during this period could be linked to major forest fires, such as the massive burn in Indonesia from late 1997 to early 1998.
The
oceans of ethane and methane found on Titan may be bubbling with nitrogen — which could explain a mysterious disappearing island spotted on its surface
In the new paper, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, Höglund - Isaksson estimated global methane emissions from oil and gas systems in over 100 countries over a 32 - year period, using a variety of country - specific data ranging from reported volumes of associated gas to satellite imagery that can show flaring, as well as atmospheric
measurements of ethane, a gas which is released along with methane and easier to link more directly to oil and gas activities.
Since 2006, he has worked with NOAA's air sampling system that uses glass flasks to collect atmospheric samples from 44 different sites around the world to track the annual
increase of ethane and other so - called volatile organic compounds in the air.
There has been evidence to support this with the spectroscopic
discovery of ethane and later the presence of ethylene and acetylene solids on Makemake's surface.
[76] They also note that the relatively low
price of ethane would give United States manufacturers an essential advantage over many global competitors.
[75] The American Chemistry Council determined that a 25 % increase in the
supply of ethane (a liquid derived from shale gas) could add over 400,000 jobs across the economy, provide over $ 4.4 billion annually in federal, state, and local tax revenue, and spur $ 16.2 billion in capital investment by the chemical industry.
Since the shale rush began, U.S. ethane production numbers have soared, with the Energy Information Administration now projecting production of over 1.7 million
barrels of ethane a day in 2018, up from less than a million barrels a day just five years earlier.
The engineering is even trickier because, unlike the nearly homogeneous water in earth - based oceans, the
concentration of ethane and methane can vary dramatically in the Titan oceans and change the liquid's density properties.
But Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has
lakes of ethane; smaller Enceladus may have a subsurface ocean of fizzy seawater.
Using his measurements and those from land - based efforts, he and his coauthors suggest that atmospheric leak rates from the blowout were up to 66 tons of methane and 4.9
tons of ethane per hour at times.
Emissions
of ethane and propane have traditionally been underestimated by more than 50 % in national emission inventories, and revision is needed, according to new research.