Colorado State University engineers have partnered with third-party assessor Project Canary to develop a method for measuring freshwater usage by natural gas operations to help evaluate operators on sustainability.
Colorado State University engineers have partnered with third-party assessor Project Canary to develop a method for measuring freshwater usage by natural gas operations to help evaluate operators on sustainability. A handful of third-party assessors monitor oil and gas operations for methane, but CSU and Project Canary have developed the first freshwater analysis for responsibly sourced gas certification.
Achieving RSG certification benefits gas operators through financial incentives. Natural gas suppliers, such as Xcel Energy and French utility Engie, are willing to pay a premium for responsibly sourced gas.
CSU researchers and Project Canary hope their new metrics will incentivize water stewardship by clearly defining oil and gas companies’ water management for the public, stakeholders and industry. The metrics compare operational impacts to local water supplies and give oil and gas companies data to improve operations or validate efforts toward sustainability.
“Natural gas is going to be here for the foreseeable future, so we need programs like this to make it as sustainable as possible,” said Ken Carlson, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of CSU’s Center for Energy Water Sustainability.
Read more at: Colorado State University
