Differentiated Gas Coordinating Council Responds to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Questions on Implementation of Inflation Reduction Act Funding
Differentiated Gas Coordinating Council
For Immediate Release
June 2, 2023
Contact: info@dgccouncil.com
NEWS: Differentiated Gas Coordinating Council Responds to The Environmental Protection Agency’s Questions on Implementation of Methane Emissions Reduction Program
WASHINGTON- Earlier today, the Differentiated Gas Coordinating Council (DGCC), a coalition of stakeholders across the natural gas value chain, provided comment to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning how to best prioritize funding provided by the Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). In its comments, the DGCC recommends that EPA prioritize funding the development of advanced methane emissions monitoring technologies, including continuing emission monitors, to meet the goals of the program.
Under the IRA, Congress provided $1.55 billion to EPA to fund and provide technical assistance for methane abatement in the oil and gas sector via the MERP. DGCC proposes that EPA utilize the funding to create a large-scale grant program that would establish a nationwide market for differentiated natural gas. The grant program would generate a price premium for natural gas with a lower emissions intensity than what is required by baseline EPA standards. Additionally, the DGCC highlights two distinct needs in creating a market for differentiated gas in the U.S.:
The first need is for high-quality emissions data. Instead of funding individual mitigation programs, the DGCC recommends that EPA prioritize funding to develop a combined detection and mitigation approach, specifically focusing on the fast detection of super-emitters with continuous monitoring, in addition to tying funding to a requirement for operators to follow through on repairs of detected emissions.
The second need is for a proof-of-concept differentiated gas demonstration project that involves the entire natural gas value chain. A demonstration project based on continuous monitoring at upstream oil and gas sites will lead to a significant incremental reduction of methane and co-located volatile organic compound emissions, which will significantly improve health outcomes in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
The DGCC also provided recommendations on financial assistance for specific methane monitoring technologies, research strategies that are geared towards reducing cost barriers for oil and gas operators, and fostering innovation in the field with an emphasis on establishing calculation methods for methane intensity claims and collecting comprehensive data on methane emissions.
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Established in 2022, the DGCC is an ad hoc coalition of stakeholders across the natural gas supply chain dedicated to expanding the market for low methane, “differentiated” natural gas. Its members include academics; downstream, midstream, and upstream energy producers; gas customers; and technology companies. The DGCC’s goal is to facilitate a federal pathway for state regulators, utilities, and gas consumers to accept differentiated gas as an important option to meet their climate goals. We believe that the adoption of differentiated gas is the best way to rapidly reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector—a win for American energy producers, energy consumers, and the climate.