Soheil Asgarpour of Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC)—an industry association that facilitates collaborative research and development—explains why reducing methane emissions is so important. He notes that in Canada, about 14 per cent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from methane, of which 44 per cent is estimated to come from the oil and natural gas activities. Methane is a more powerful agent of climate change than carbon dioxide (CO2): each molecule has 25 times more Global Warming Potential (GWP) over a 100 year-period.
Asgarpour also notes methane emissions reductions will help reduce air pollution, and that the development and implementation of related technologies is helping Canada establish itself as a world leader in the area, while creating jobs for Canadians.
“PTAC has also responded to the methane reduction challenge, bringing to bear our unique position as a trusted facilitator skilled at uniting diverse stakeholders in a common vision,” says Asgarpour.
“PTAC’s consortia have developed numerous technologies that currently have the collective capacity, with future full industry uptake, to reduce overall methane emissions by more than 30 percent. Our goal is to enable industry to meet the 45 per cent reduction goal by 2025. We believe Canada is and will continue to be the global leader in methane detection and mitigation technologies, many of which can be used globally.”
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About PTAC
PTAC draws from a membership base of more than 200 upstream producers, service and supply companies, government agencies and academic institutions.
Soheil Asgarpour has been president of PTAC since 2007. He has more than three decades of experience in the energy sector, as a senior government official and in executive positions with large oil and natural gas producers.
