In designing Alberta’s methane emissions reductions plan, meeting the mandated 45 per cent target at the lowest possible cost to the upstream oil and gas sector was an overriding priority — a goal that it was determined could only be reached if innovation was allowed to flourish.

For the province and industry associations like the Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN), Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC) and the Methane Emission Leadership Alliance (MELA), that meant the plan must build in the maximum level of flexibility — to allow technology providers to devise new methods of getting to the same objective. And it meant industry-wide collaboration — to bring together producers with service providers that could provide the solutions and to bridge those solutions to the field.

For the latter, PTAC and CRIN launched initiatives like the Methane Emissions Reduction Network (MERN) to connect all stakeholders and build an innovation ecosystem that could most effectively deliver new technologies to market.

For the former, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) devised an alternative fugitive emission management program (Alt FEMP) with which to usher in the use of new and emerging leak detection and mitigation technologies, said Gerald Palanca, manager of the AER’s air emissions and audit technical advisory team.

AER requirements address the primary sources of methane emissions arising from fugitive emissions and venting, which includes emissions from compressors, pneumatic devices and glycol dehydrators. The requirements also focus on improved measurement, monitoring and reporting of emissions.

“Typically what you see is a set of requirements that may be considered more prescriptive to use certain technologies,” such as an optical gas imaging camera, Palanca said. “What [Alt FEMP] does is open the door for companies to use a satellite or an airplane or a truck-mounted device, or other technologies that meet our requirements. There has been a lot of investment in developing those technologies and with the Alt FEMP framework, we describe how an operator should submit a proposal for either commercial deployment or a pilot study of a form of alternative technology.”

The AER does not regulate technology providers or technology; rather it regulates oil and gas operators and licensees. It therefore only accepts Alt FEMP proposals from operators and licensees. These operators have to demonstrate the technology can achieve certain levels of performance to meet the same regulatory outcomes as intended by the requirements, he said.

That is where initiatives like MERN come into the picture. As part of the process to get approval, companies would typically start by accessing the networks provided by CRIN and PTAC that facilitate connecting technology providers with operators to develop and deploy new technologies.

There they could also access many other connected networks, such as those associated with industry associations like MELA, funding sources, learning institutions and research organizations where, for example, they could arrange targeted studies to demonstrate performance of that technology.

There is also access to the Alberta Methane Field Challenge (AMFC) launched last summer, which has already tested several truck-, drone-, plane-based and fixed sensors across 50 producing oil and gas sites. The AMFC seeks to understand the real-world performance of alternative methane leak detection technologies in comparison to conventional camera-based surveys.

They could then publish a report, typically peer reviewed, that highlights some of the technical specifications and capabilities of that technology and that information would then be used by operators as part of their Alt FEMP proposal submission to the AER, Palanca said. The entire process can be accelerated by the AER’s involvement along the way.

“It’s not just about creating the technology — there’s testing it, working through various networks and funding mechanisms, connecting that technology with the appropriate operator or producer who would be willing to take on the risk to deploy it, and then getting that certainty from the regulator that it would be an accepted technology.

“There is a need to not only test this technology in a scientifically accepted and valid way, there’s also the need to connect the technology providers and the operators to submit that proposal. The AER’s role is to provide a regulatory framework to allow these new technologies to be deployed,” he said. “There are all these moving parts where all the stars have to sort of align before that technology is commercially deployed.”

It’s all part of the AER’s commitment to try to reduce the costs of regulation. “Technology and innovation are certainly pathways of reducing costs,” Palanca concluded. “Through the design of the requirements and implementation, we committed to collaborating with industry and stakeholders, and through these various networks — we are members of various committees — that’s one way of us collaborating with innovators and industry on new technology deployment.”

Efficient deployment requires data, preplanning

Effective and efficient delivery and deployment are also key to reducing vented methane at upstream oil and gas sites, added Brian Van Vliet, Environment Solutions lead at Spartan Controls. Once an inventory is obtained for the assets that are impacted, it is important to analyze that dataset to determine what can be done and when it needs to be done, he said. By understanding the technologies available and leveraging shared industry learnings, informed decisions can be made.

In Alberta, emission reduction projects have been ongoing for well over a decade. There are many field proven technologies out there that demonstrate sustained benefits.

“Where there’s uncertainty, it is beneficial to be in touch with subject matter experts,” said Van Vliet. “It would be a tough consequence to gather inventory from different sites and then realize in analysis, because key attributes are missing, that the sites need to be re-inventoried. Each technology has its sweet spot that provides the best cost per tonne CO2e return on investment with the needed detailed baseline data.”

From there, a plan can be created and implemented that meets regulatory compliance dates and makes use of cost-reducing incentives such as carbon offsets, he said. “Project coordination with operations and maintenance is essential and will require plans for specific areas, timing of overhauls, calibrations, site work, etc.”

In a capital constrained environment, starting with one or two small projects, often with the support of available funding mechanisms that exist either through public or private capital programs, is the best way to begin the “emissions management” journey. This allows field and corporate staff the opportunity to get comfortable with the technologies.

After a project has been implemented, communicating project performance has been and will continue to invaluable. This raises awareness within an organization, which promotes idea sharing between field operations, which are often spread widely throughout the province or across provinces.

With ongoing and updated regulatory requirements approaching, it is important to get started now. The technologies are available. The experience, knowledge and support systems are in place to deploy and achieve cost effective emission reductions, Van Vliet said.

Expanding connections in a fragmented innovation ecosystem

Preplanning and strategy development is also vital on a higher level, compelling the creation of an innovation ecosystem roadmap that came about after it was determined the ecosystem was fragmented, said PTAC president Soheil Asgarpour. “We identified the challenges [in reaching the methane emissions reductions target] and we identified some of the technologies that are already being deployed to address them, and through that we’re now trying to fill the gaps.”

PTAC also looked at the innovation ecosystem to see how it works, and how it could be made more effective. One concept examined is that for every 3,000 raw ideas that go into the innovation funnel, one commercial technology emerges, “meaning that we have got to come up with a huge number of ideas to begin with,” Asgarpour said. “And so the first question was, how do we really get more ideas through this innovation funnel, so we get more and more technologies [brought forward].”

One way was to expand the network — which is where CRIN, often described as a network of networks, came into play. Not only was a larger audience needed, but also finding a wide diversity of knowledge and skills, which CRIN can readily tap into.

“We might need an ecosystem that has, for example, one reservoir engineer, one production engineer, one person coming from the regulatory body, a lawyer and [another unrelated specialist]. You get much more information and much better results from that than having, for instance, five reservoir engineers working on a problem. So diversity of knowledge and skills was really important.”

The next step is connecting them all together. “It’s about connecting ideas, projects, people, capital, [and] everything else to really build this innovation ecosystem. And it was important also to make sure that everybody had free access to information, and to share with people what are the major issues around methane emissions. What are the technology gaps? What criteria would industry consider for market driven technologies? What current technologies are already developed?

“We also had to consider the challenges in terms of mass deployment and market acceptance, and the challenges with field-testing technologies. And what do we need to do to increase the market uptake of technologies, because even if we commercialize the technology, the level of market uptake is very important. And where can we get funds and what type of sites we need, etc., so there was a huge amount of information that we needed to share and communicate with everybody.”

To accomplish its goals, the network needed to have a vision, to cultivate leadership and develop a systematic approach in terms of developing technologies, he added. “We needed to create a playground for innovation to happen. And essentially what we needed was a consortium of field testing facilities to get us to where we wanted to go.”

PTAC developed a relationship with CRIN in which it provides CRIN with administrative support and CRIN — with over 1,200 members across a broad sweep of the industry — provides PTAC its extensive outreach capabilities.

One result of their efforts was the creation of MERN, the methane-focused arm of CRIN that serves as a hub of all things as they relate to reducing methane emissions. Among its objectives is to launch market-driven R&D projects related to methane emissions reductions, inform technology providers and others about the current challenges facing producers, to share knowledge and research results, and enable increased interactions between all stakeholders operating within the methane emissions reductions space.

Also connected with producers and service and supply companies are research institutions, several universities, and government agencies and funding organizations. “It’s about mapping the whole innovation ecosystem and making sure that everybody is well connected,” said Asgarpour.

The overall vision, Asgarpour said, is to not only meet the 45 per cent emissions reductions target by 2025, but to get there at the lowest possible cost. The initiatives are also expected to create 2,300 new jobs while providing “additional benefits to Indigenous people, women, minorities, [and] people living in remote areas through employment” and economic development more generally. “It’s also a target for us to help with economic prosperity — not only can we sell the technology in Canada, but then we could export it to other countries and that would provide additional benefits.”

Asgarpour estimates technology already developed can reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent in a cost effective manner — at a cost of $5 or less per tonne of CO2 equivalent emissions reduced. By comparison, cutting CO2 emissions tends to be looked at on the basis of costs in excess of $30 per tonne reduced, the level of the carbon tax recently applied in Alberta.

It is estimated getting to the 2025 target at a cost of $5 or less per tonne saved — by advancing innovative new technologies — could save the industry some $560 million per year. “The beauty of [methane emissions reductions] is that we can do that at least 10 times less than if we go after CO2. The most cost effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is going after methane,” said Asgarpour.

The content of this article has been reviewed and approved by sponsor Spartan Controls.

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