Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Western Canadian Natural Gas and a Proposed Method for Upstream Life Cycle Emissions Tracking

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dc.contributor.advisorBergerson, Joule A.
dc.contributor.authorLiu, Ryan Edward
dc.contributor.committeememberDe La Hoz Siegler, H.
dc.contributor.committeememberNassar, Nashaat N.
dc.date2019-11
dc.date.accessioned2019-06-03T18:40:43Z
dc.date.available2019-06-03T18:40:43Z
dc.date.issued2019-05-28
dc.description.abstractNatural gas (NG) produced in Western Canada is a major source of Canada’s energy and emissions portfolio. However, there is only limited understanding of the sources and drivers of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To assess the climate impact of NG in Western Canada, a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a hypothetical 1 billion cubic feet per day LNG production facility with upstream operations based on Seven Generation Energy Ltd.’s (the ‘company’) operations is performed using a model available through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) which has been modified to adjust for provided company data. Using this case study as an example, the completeness of publicly available GHG emissions data on oil and gas operations in Western Canada to estimate their upstream GHG footprint is examined. The LCA of company-sourced natural gas resulted in a GHG emissions intensity of 410-477 gCO2e/kWh for electricity production (domestic use and LNG to China) and 87 gCO2e/MJ heat for district heating in China. These results indicate that the company’s natural gas produces lower life cycle GHG emissions than the average emissions from natural gas production in the US, AB, and BC, and emit 370-640 gCO2e/kWh fewer emissions compared to coal. The low emissions intensity is achieved through mitigation methods implemented by the company including but not limited to utilizing air-driven pneumatic devices, regular leak detection and repair (LDAR), inherent reservoir characteristics. The upstream GHG emission intensity of the company’s NG production is estimated to be 3.1 - 4.0 gCO2e/MJ compared to current estimates of BC emissions intensities of 6.2 - 12 gCO2e/MJ NG and the US average of 15 gCO2e/MJ. The analysis reveals that compared to US studies, public GHG emissions data for Western Canada have significant data aggregation and/or missing data (gaps) and satisfy only 50% of the modified NETL model inputs. Company provided data close a majority of these gaps, satisfying all data inputs for pre-production, production, and processing (~80% of model inputs) but not transmission as the Company does not operate NG transmission pipelines. To better inform the public of GHG emissions in Alberta and BC, the thesis recommends that the provinces reduce its reliance on aggregate data reporting and develop a data collection and for public release template based on the modified NETL model. In this context, the thesis proposes a data collection template to facilitate better GHG emissions estimates and provide insight to potential mitigation strategies.en_US
dc.identifier.citationLiu, R. E. (2019). Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Western Canadian Natural Gas and a Proposed Method for Upstream Life Cycle Emissions Tracking (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36617
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110466
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultySchulich School of Engineeringen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectLife Cycle Assessmenten_US
dc.subjectLCAen_US
dc.subjectNatural Gasen_US
dc.subjectGreenhouse Gasen_US
dc.subjectGHG Reportingen_US
dc.subjectRegulationen_US
dc.subject.classificationEnergyen_US
dc.subject.classificationEngineeringen_US
dc.subject.classificationEngineering--Chemicalen_US
dc.subject.classificationEngineering--Environmentalen_US
dc.titleLife Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Western Canadian Natural Gas and a Proposed Method for Upstream Life Cycle Emissions Trackingen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineEngineering – Chemical & Petroleumen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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