Cheniere launches collaboration to quantify, monitor, report, verify GHG emissions

Updated Apr. 21 to include KMI assets included in the project. 

Cheniere Energy Inc., Houston, has launched a collaboration with natural gas midstream companies, methane detection technology providers, and academic institutions to implement quantification, monitoring, reporting and verification (QMRV) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at natural gas gathering, processing, transmission, and storage systems specific to Cheniere’s supply chain.

The program aims to improve the overall understanding of GHG emissions and further the deployment of advanced monitoring technologies and protocols, the company said in an Apr. 19 release. The collaboration builds upon Cheniere’s ongoing QMRV collaboration with natural gas producers and LNG shipping providers, both of which began in 2021. QMRV programs support Cheniere’s climate strategy initiatives, including the plan to provide Cargo Emissions Tags to customers beginning this year.

Midstream QMRV work will be conducted by emissions researchers from Colorado State University and the University of Texas. Measurement protocol designed by the research group and Cheniere will be field tested at facilities operated by participating companies, which include Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI), Williams Companies Inc., MPLX LP, DT Midstream Inc., and Crestwood Equity Partners LP. Cheniere is also a participant in the program through the bidirectional, 94-mi, 1.5 bcfd Creole Trail pipeline connecting Sabine Pass LNG with a number of interstate pipelines, as well as the Gillis compressor station.

The program involves a combination of ground-based, aerial, and drone-based emissions monitoring technologies utilized over a minimum of 6 months. Data will be independently analyzed and verified by the academic partners. At the Gillis compressor station, the R&D initiative will also test multiple continuous emissions monitors to assess technology performance.

KMI assets involved in the project include select pipeline segments and compressor stations on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline, and Natural Gas Pipeline of America systems.

“Emissions quantification requires scientifically rigorous methods that are unique to each segment of the industry. This first-of-its-kind R&D project will investigate emissions performance at multiple midstream facilities not just by short-duration spot checks, but over several months, employing multiple monitoring technologies at multiple scales,” said Dan Zimmerle, the principal investigator on the project from Colorado State University who also serves as the Director of the school’s Methane Emissions Program.