@EliotJacobson:
“If we don’t have accurate estimates of methane emissions, we can’t design effective climate policies”
@99blackbaloons:
Human civilisation is a perverse aberration within the planet’s biology and ecology.
Horrifying lies by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith! Disgusting. Quadruple douche fucker! I live frac’d, have lived frac’d for over 20 years, lost my life long savings to legal and court fees in our pro polluter biased judicial-legal industry, yet still I have more privilege and riches than most Canadians and others in the world!
@nigelb.bsky.social:
I understand that Ms Smith may actually be referring to the elite “OECD world” rather than the real world, but as an Albertan it makes me so ashamed to read this claim to poverty. In global terms I am privileged beyond belief.
Shame on you Ms Smith.
@spat-jones.bsky.social:
wow… what a absolute horrible lying person
@derek.bsky.social:
“In the world”.
Jesus, there’s hyperbole and then whatever the fuck that is.
There are billions of people who live in much lower living standards than Albertans.
Somehow, they’re considerably less whiny about it too.
@thebreakdownab.bsky.social June 8, 2025:
Danielle Smith when confronted with the reality that oil production has increased in Alberta…
“We’ve got the lowest living standards in the world”
No really.
She said that.
@qbee2024.bsky.social:
The median annual household income in Alberta was $96,000 before taxes in 2024, according to CMHC data. Higher than any other province in Canada.The main reason we are so rich in Alberta is because of the oil and gas industry, and politicians like Smith letting it do what it wants, pollute how it wants, walk from clean up how it wants, and leave wells leaking climate destroying pollutants.
@deonandan.bsky.social:
We can measure this, you know. There is something called the inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, which measures living standards.
Lowest in the world is Sierra Leone (0.324).
Canada is 0.864, ranked #18 in the world.
By the way, the USA is 0.832 ranked #29.
Smith, of course, is an idiot.
@canadianhomebody.bsky.social:
Did she mention that oil producers don’t want to double production? We would flood the market and cause a price decline that would result in our oil not being profitable. Not to mention that the world doesn’t want our oil because only a few places are set to be able to refine our heavy crude.
@molszyns.bsky.social:
Alberta knows it has a methane leakage problem with its inactive and orphaned wells. That’s why it wants to downgrade closure requirements (per the so-called Mature Asset Strategy) — dealing with this problem effectively would balloon liability estimates that are already staggering.
Methane leaks from dormant oil and gas wells in Canada are seven times worse than thought, study suggests by McGill University, edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan, June 6, 2025, Phys.org
Methane emissions from Canada’s non-producing oil and gas wells appear to be seven times higher than government estimates, according to a new study led by researchers at McGill University. The findings spotlight a major gap in the country’s official greenhouse gas inventory and raise urgent questions about how methane leaks are monitored, reported and managed.The murderous polluters self report, and lie, a lot, enabled by their self regulators and owned politicians, and have done for decades.
“Non-producing wells are one of the most uncertain sources of methane emissions in Canada,” said Mary Kang, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at McGill and senior author on the paper. “We measured the highest methane emission rate from a non-producing oil and gas well ever reported in Canada.”
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Over a 20-year period, it traps about 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than the same amount of carbon dioxide. It’s also associated with air pollution and health risks. Kang’s team directly measured methane emissions from 494 wells across five provinces using a chamber-based method and analyzed well-level data such as age, depth and plugging status.
The national emissions estimate they arrived at—230 kilotonnes per year—is sevenfold higher than the 34 kilotonnes reported in Canada’s National Inventory Report. The study was published in Environmental Science & Technology.
There are more than 425,000 inactive oil and gas wells across Canada, most of which are in Alberta and Saskatchewan. This means that the number of measured wells is very small, at only 0.1 percent.
“One surprising finding was just how much the drivers of emissions varied between provinces,” said Kang. “We thought geological differences within provinces would matter more, but the dominant factors appear to be at the provincial scale, likely due to variations in policy and operational practices.” (a) Non-producing well distribution across Canada with two pie charts for each province/territory (left pie chart shows well status, right pie chart shows well type). The size of the pie chart is indicative of well counts in each province/territory (Table S5). (b) Undocumented well count estimates for each province/territory in Canada (AB: Alberta, BC: British Columbia, MN: Manitoba, NB: New Brunswick, NL: Newfoundland and Labrador, NT: Northwest Territories, NS: Nova Scotia, NU: Nunavut, ON: Ontario, PE: Prince Edward Island, QC: Quebec, YT: Yukon). Credit: Environmental Science & Technology (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c05602
The results reveal that a small fraction of wells—especially unplugged gas wells—are responsible for the vast majority of non-producing well methane emissions. Kang says targeting these high emitters would be an efficient way to reduce emissions.
“Rather than just measuring more wells at random, we can use well attributes to identify where emissions are likely to be highest, and focus monitoring and mitigation efforts there,” she said.
The study serves as a reminder of the need to rethink how old wells are managed.
“There’s potential to repurpose these sites in ways that generate funding for long-term monitoring and emissions reduction,” said Kang.
“Many of these sites can be transformed to produce clean energy, such as wind, solar, and geothermal,” said Jade Boutot, a Ph.D. student in Kang’s lab and co-author of the study.
The researchers emphasize that improving methane data is critical to meeting Canada’s climate targets.
“If we don’t have accurate estimates of methane emissions, we can’t design effective climate policies,” Kang added.
More information: Louise A. Klotz et al, Sevenfold Underestimation of Methane Emissions from Non-producing Oil and Gas Wells in Canada, Environmental Science & Technology (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c05602
Journal information: Environmental Science & Technology
Sevenfold Underestimation of Methane Emissions from Non-producing Oil and Gas Wells in Canada by Louise A. Klotz, Liam Woolley, Bianca Lamarche, Jade Boutot, Mary Kang, April 29, 2025, Environmental Science & Technology (2025). Vol 59/Issue 18
Open PDF Supporting Information (1)
Abstract
Millions of non-producing oil and gas wells around the world are leaking methane and other contaminants, contributing to increased greenhouse gas emissions and polluting our water, soil, and air. Quantifying methane emissions and understanding the attributes driving these emissions are important for evaluating the scale of the environmental risks and informing mitigation strategies. With our national-scale direct measurement database of 494 non-producing wells across Canada, we find total annual methane emissions from non-producing wells in Canada to be 230 kt/year (51–560 kt/year) for 2023, which is 7 (1.5–16) times higher than estimated in Canada’s National Inventory Report (34 kt/year) and accounts for 13% of total fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems in Canada. We show that the role of well attributes in methane emissions is best evaluated by considering the emitting component (wellhead/surface casing vent) and the spatial scale (e.g., national, provincial, subprovincial). Large uncertainties in methane emissions from non-producing wells can be reduced not only with additional measurements but also with detailed well attribute analysis using direct measurements. Identifying attributes linked to high emitters can also be used to prioritize mitigation, thereby reducing methane emissions and broader environmental risks.
Refer also to:
2006 June: Ernst drinking water after Encana/Ovintiv illegally directly intentionally frac’d her community’s fresh water aquifers, repeatedly, enabled by AER and Alberta gov’t. The only one punished for Encana’s crimes, was Ernst. The fucking Alberta douche cowards didn’t even order the company to repair the frac’d aquifers. Instead, Canadians’ and County tax dollars were taken to pay many millions to pipeline from Calgary, safe alternate water 100km to Rosebud and other frac’d communities – in years of extreme drought. The pipeline did not come to my home, I continue to haul alternate water myself – an annoying, expensive, tiring and heart breaking chore.
Photo by Colin Smith
2003 Groundwater Quality
