5,900 natural gas leaks discovered under Washington, D.C.

“Jackson’s team collaborated with researchers from Boston University and Gas Safety, Inc., on the new study. The team mapped gas leaks under all 1,500 road miles within Washington using a high-precision Picarro G2301 Cavity Ring-Down Spectrometer installed in a GPS-equipped car. Laboratory analyses then confirmed that the isotopic chemical signatures of the methane and ethane found in the survey closely matched that of pipeline gas”.

“In addition to the explosion hazard, natural gas leaks also pose another threat: Methane, the primary ingredient of natural gas, is a powerful greenhouse gas that also can catalyze ozone formation. Pipeline leaks are the largest human-caused source of methane in the United States and contribute to $3 billion of lost and unaccounted for natural gas each year”.

“This is a satellite image of the District of Colombia with bar charts showing where natural gas leaks were located under city streets and in what concentration methane was identified. Higher bars indicate higher concentrations in parts per million. Credit: Duke University”

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Ref; Duke University and Boston University. 2014, “5,900 natural gas leaks discovered under Washington, D.C.” retrieved from https://phys.org/news/2014-01-natural-gas-leaks-washington-dc.html?goback=%2Egde_67258_member_5830333315575468036#%21

Categorised in: Air pollution