The massive natural gas leak at Aliso Canyon shined a light on California’s aging natural gas infrastructure. And five years of extreme drought also exacted its toll on transmission pipelines. Now the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has been awarded $4.6 million by the California Energy Commission for two projects aimed at improving the safety and reliability of the state’s natural gas system.
The massive natural gas leak at Aliso Canyon shined a light on California’s aging natural gas infrastructure. And five years of extreme drought also exacted its toll on transmission pipelines. Now the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has been awarded $4.6 million by the California Energy Commission for two projects aimed at improving the safety and reliability of the state’s natural gas system.
The first project, led by Yingqi Zhang, will receive $3 million to develop a more comprehensive approach toward risk management, based on integration of real-time data and scientific models. The second project, led by Jonny Rutqvist, will receive $1.6 million to develop a new 3-D methodology to identify and monitor areas at high risk of ground deformation caused by sinking land.
“California’s natural gas wells and pipelines face risks that could cause potential damage or catastrophic events,” said Zhang, a hydrogeologist. “There is an urgent need for a risk management system that is thorough, robust, and reliable and that will facilitate early damage detection and leak prevention.”
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Image: This map shows areas of subsidence in California. Areas colored in purple and magenta have seen the greatest amount of subsidence. Natural gas pipelines are in black. (Credit: Graphic developed by the California Energy Commission from multiple sources)
