Aircraft-derived CH4 emissions from surface and in-situ mining activities in the Alberta oil sands region

Abstract

The identification and reduction of methane sources is considered an important part of the fight to stem greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. One of the largest industrial contributors to national GHG emissions in Canada is the Alberta Oil Sands Region. To quantify and investigate the spatial distribution and temporal variability of methane emissions from this region, airborne measurements were conducted in 2017 and 2018 with three aircraft. 59 flights were conducted in total to assess emissions for both open-pit and in-situ facilities, in both cold and warm seasons. Derived emission rates were higher than those reported in national inventories by 30%–96% depending on the facility. In-situ facilities had emission rates an order of magnitude lower than surface mining operations and differed significantly from inventory estimates. No statistical differences in CH₄ emissions between cold and warm seasons were observed, substantiating the use of simple upscaling to annual emissions within inventories. Rather than confirming a reported decrease in emissions between 2013 and 2018, the measurements suggest essentially no change from the 18 t h⁻¹ for the region observed in 2013. Overall, the results suggest that current methods of CH₄ emission determination within the oil sands region, for use in reporting, require improvement.