TotalEnergies has partnered with US-based clean technology company Qnergy to deploy the latter’s advanced solution for reducing methane emissions at its Barnett gas field.
Qnergy’s new solution uses a technology that allows methane powered instrumentation to run on compressed air, eliminating the methane emission during the process.
A pilot project of the technology was conducted at the Barnett site in March this year.
The pilot showed that the technology is reliable, simple to install and easy to operate, and eliminates up to 98% of the methane emissions from the instruments using natural gas.
TotalEnergies said that it has decided to deploy the new technology at 100 units of the Barnett field in 2021 and 2022, after additional tests.
Also, the firm plans to deploy more 300 units across the field, to reduce methane venting emissions from pneumatic devices by around 7,000 tons per annum by the end of 2024.
TotalEnergies sustainability and climate senior vice president Carole Le Gall said: “To fully play its role in the energy transition, notably as a substitute for coal, the integrated natural gas chain must limit its methane emissions as much as possible.
“By immediately deploying this technology on our US onshore operations, we are actively demonstrating our commitment to reducing our own methane emissions by 20% between 2020 and 2025.”
TotalEnergies said that the performance of Qnergy’s new solution in reducing methane emissions is one of the best in the industry.
It has pledged to design instruments for its new developments on the Barnett field and across its operations, that do not use natural gas.
The company has reduced nearly 50% of its emissions by using different sources, reduced over 90% of its routine flaring since 2010, and has pledged to stop the practice by 2030.
It aims to achieve an additional 20% reduction of absolute methane emissions from its operated oil and gas assets in 2025 compared to 2020, said TotalEnergies.
Furthermore, TotalEnergies is a founding member of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), a $1bn climate fund that has previously invested in Qnergy.
Qnergy CEO Ory Zik said: “We are thrilled to support TotalEnergies’ global effort to eliminate methane emissions from the natural gas supply chain.
“This 100-unit deployment is one of the largest projects in the pneumatic devices sector. It marks the beginning of a new scale of emission mitigation across this sector.”
