Methane (CH4) is the primary constituent of natural gas and a significant contributor to global climate change, accounting for 11% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. With the advent of hydraulic fracturing technology, production of natural gas from shale gas reserves has increased by 35% from 2005 to 2013. Fugitive CH4 emissions attributed to venting or leakage across the life cycle of natural gas systems have also increased, making the climate benefits ascribed to natural gas questionable when compared to oil and coal. This dissertation reports the results of three studies that improve our knowledge of the environmental and political ramifications of continued investment in and consumption of natural gas fuels. Using bottom-up flux chamber techniques we made direct measurements of CH4 emissions from 100 natural gas leaks in cast iron distribution mains within Metro Boston, MA in order to assess the nature of the distribution of gas leak size and constrain estimates of fugitive CH4 emissions across leak-prone urban distribution infrastructure. We find that the distribution of leak size is skewed, a small fraction of ‘superemitter’ leaks contribute disproportionate CH4 emissions, and CH4 flux at leak sites is not an indicator of safety. Next, we use the lens of urban natural gas infrastructure systems and apply an ecological analytical framework to identify dysfunctions in and opportunities for coordinated urban infrastructure management in Boston, MA. We find that there are real physical and fiscal constraints to retrofitting and expanding aging, urban infrastructure in U.S. cities. Achieving sustainable, resilient urban infrastructure requires active participation by all stakeholders as well as coordination within and between stakeholder groups. Finally, we introduce the term ‘unleakable carbon’ to refer to the uncombusted carbon-based gases associated with fossil fuel systems and demonstrate that in particular the unleakable carbon associated with natural gas constitutes a potentially large and heretofore unrecognized factor in estimating usable portions of Earth’s fossil fuel reserves. We demonstrate that unless unleakable carbon is curtailed, roughly 80 – 100% of our global natural gas reserves must remain underground if we hope to limit warming to 2 °C from 2010 to 2050.

The growth and expansion of Joint Development Agreements, which promote the joint development of common or transboundary petroleum deposits between countries with opposite or adjacent coastlines are an indication that the status of the obligation to jointly develop common or transboundary oil and gas resources as a rule of customary international law may no longer be doubtful. This research examines the origin and evolution of Joint Development (JD) to determine its status in international law, including the law of the sea. It also explores the concept of shared natural resources in international law, intending to determine whether common or transboundary oil and gas resources are a part of the family of shared natural resources. It argues that the rule applicable to other shared natural resources such as international rivers, transboundary fish stocks and transboundary groundwater may be extrapolated and applied to common or transboundary oil and gas resources. It gives a detailed, analytical account of the progressive development of the concept of JD and how the International Law Commission (ILC) failed to take this developing trend to the level of codification when it decided in 2009 to discontinue the topic of oil and gas in its programme of work. The research argues that JD of common or transboundary oil and gas resources should now be considered as a settled norm of customary international law.

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade hydraulic fracturing, the high-pressure injection of water and chemicals into an oil or gas well, has been widely adopted to maximize oil and gas recovery despite debate about potential health impacts. Often the debate is contentious and complicated by incomplete information. The purpose of this dissertation was to implement and assess the usefulness of a process for communities to identify, prioritize, and respond to potential health effects of hydraulic fracturing. METHODS: The study was conducted in a community in Kern County, California, the epi-center of hydraulic fracturing in the state. Mixed methods were used to develop an inventory of known or potential health effects associated with exposure to hydraulic fracturing: a systematic review of literature published before April 1, 2017 to determine health outcomes reported in exposed communities; a Delphi study to elicit expert opinion; and focus groups to determine residents’ health concerns. The resulting inventory of 60 health effects derived from one or more of these sources was presented to community residents in ballot form and multi-voting was used to prioritize health effects. Focus group and multi-voting results were used to develop an action plan. RESULTS: The Delphi panel endorsed 13 health outcomes associated with hydraulic fracturing for oil and/or gas; all but one were reported in the scientific literature. Focus groups generated 17 health effects; 13 of these were reported in the scientific literature and/or endorsed by the Delphi panel. Multi-voting results indicated that priority health effects were: problems with sleep; breathing; eyes, ears, nose, and throat; heart disease and hypertension; cancer; headache; nausea; and a group of symptoms known as “Shale Gas Syndrome”. CONCLUSION: The process described in this dissertation could be used by communities across the US that are debating the potential health impacts of hydraulic fracturing. It engages community residents, requires few resources, and can be completed in a relatively short period of time. The results can inform a community-specific response to the priority health concerns identified.

Thesis. 1978. M.S. cn--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Bibliography: leaves 124-131. / / by Otto J. Solis. / M.S.cn

Thesis. 1977. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography : leaves 414-426. / by Lucile M. Shanes. / Ph.D.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / This work proposes a methodology for feasibility study of the distribution of natural gas to remote areas without access through a backbone pipeline. In recent years, one can observe a strong increase in the participation of natural gas as input in energy supply all around the world, including Brazil. The State of CearÃ, in the Northeastern Brazil, shows nowadays a natural gas supply superavit of about four million cubic meters per day. Present natural gas distribution in Cearà State occurs only in Fortaleza Metropolitan area. Although there are in the State many important urban development poles with significant potential to consume natural gas they cannot count yet with necessary supply equipments of that power input as gas pipeline. This is an important problem because wood fuel is largely used in the countryside notwithstanding its damage to the environment. All over the world the attendance of secondary markets with natural gas has been supported by trucks or trains lines as a first step before implementing a pipeline. This work aims to propose and apply a methodology to find the economic and logistics feasibility to distribute natural gas to remote regions. Such a methodology makes use of discrete choice demand forecasting technique using both revealed and stated preference data as well as the capacity facility location problem modelling and conventional indicators of economic feasibility. A case study is discussed involving the CRAJUBAR region of Cearà State. The work aims to contribute in identification of scenarios in which one can have feasible situations of energy input substitution. / Esta dissertaÃÃo propÃe uma metodologia para estudo de viabilidade da distribuiÃÃo secundÃria de gÃs natural em regiÃes afastadas de redes primÃrias de gasodutos. Diante da seguranÃa de fornecimento do gÃs natural apresentada atualmente no paÃs e no Mundo, a sua participaÃÃo na matriz energÃtica vem se intensificando nos Ãltimos anos. O Estado do Cearà apresenta superavit na oferta equivalente a quatro milhÃes de metros cÃbicos por dia de gÃs. Atualmente, a distribuiÃÃo do gÃs natural, nesse Estado, à realizada apenas na RegiÃo Metropolitana de Fortaleza, sendo que no interior se encontram importantes polos de desenvolvimento, como a RegiÃo do CRAJUBAR com uma base industrial com potencial de consumo de gÃs natural, que poderia levar à substituiÃÃo do uso principalmente de lenha no processo produtivo das empresas e, tambÃm, poderia propiciar a interiorizaÃÃo do uso do energÃtico em regiÃes ainda nÃo atendida por gasodutos. O atendimento aos consumidores de gÃs natural tem ocorrido por meio da utilizaÃÃo de distribuiÃÃo secundÃria (gasoduto virtual) indutora de mercado. Assim o objetivo deste estudo reside em propor e aplicar uma metodologia de determinaÃÃo da viabilidade da distribuiÃÃo secundÃria do gÃs natural para regiÃes nÃo atendidas por gasodutos, instrumentada pelo uso de tÃcnicas de previsÃo de demanda, de otimizaÃÃo de custos e de planilha eletrÃnica na determinaÃÃo da viabilidade econÃmica. O trabalho busca contribuir na identificaÃÃo de cenÃrios viÃveis de substituiÃÃo energÃtica para o uso do gÃs natural na regiÃo em estudo.

This thesis provides a geochemical interpretation of natural gas resources in north eastern British Columbia (NEBC), Canada. The work is part of the three-year project, British Columbia Natural Gas Atlas (BC-NGA) to collect samples and compile data on molecular (C1 to C5) and stable isotope ratio (δ13C and δ2H) compositions of natural gases in NEBC. The primary objective of the BC-NGA project is to produce a comprehensive, public, web database with maps of the gas geochemical data from a variety of gas tests including mudgas collected during drilling, downhole flow tests, production gas, and gas collected from surface emissions. The area of study in NEBC is a large portion of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) with Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic strata of thousands of meters thickness. Within this stratigraphic package there are numerous depositional hiatus and regional aquitards complicating the generation of regional maps and profiles. This M.Sc. thesis utilizes the geochemical gas parameters to characterize the range of gases in the BC-NGA database. The thesis found that the petroleum sources and active generation processes are not uniform in the NEBC. In some cases, the original gas signatures have been overprinted by localized processes in specific strata. The results of this new data plus compilation of existing data in the BC-NGA dataset indicate that many classical interpretive diagrams, e.g., Bernard Diagram (C1/[C2+C3] vs. δ13C1) and CD Diagram (δ13C1 vs. δ2H-C1), confirm the microbial/ thermogenic nature of the gases, but lack the resolution for detailed stratigraphic interpretation of gas sources and migration. A particularly interesting finding is that δ13Ckerogen (-33 ‰) estimated from δ13C1 observed for most strata in NEBC is 13C depleted compared with conventional kerogens and the data supports new calibration of the methane isotopes. This δ13Ckerogen value is an unlikely value and therefore the offset observed compared with conventional natural gases requires a different explanation, including commingling of 13C depleted methane from microbial sources. Enhanced characterization is obtained by combinations of the gas parameter ratios: δ13C1, δ13C2, δ13C3, C2/C3, C2/iC4, (e.g., ‘Berner-Faber Diagram’, ‘Prinzhofer Diagram’, ‘Lorant Diagram’). In addition, a new plot of δ13C2-δ13C1 versus iC4/nC4 ratio was developed in this thesis. / Graduate

Nigeria has a huge natural gas reserve, but to date this resource has been largely under-developed. This state of affair has impacted negatively on Nigerias economic potential. In contrast, Alberta has benefitted immensely from its natural gas resource because it has effectively developed same. This thesis advocates the effective development of Nigerias natural gas resources. It examines the current frameworks for the development of natural gas in Alberta and Nigeria and outlines the concepts in the Albertas framework that could be adopted by Nigeria. Three core regimes that promote the effective development of natural gas are utilized for the examination. They are: effective regimes for the acquisition of natural gas rights, for the conservation, and for the utilization of natural gas resources. Given climate change concerns and depletion in natural gas stock capital, this thesis also advocates the sustainable development of natural gas in Nigeria and Alberta.

This dissertation focuses on the spatial aspects of oil and natural gas production to investigate the extent and effects of inefficient and unnecessary spatial competition. Because oil and natural gas are migratory, operators can cause hydrocarbon resources to flow from a neighboring property onto his or her own through rapid extraction. This problem is compounded when productive leases are comparatively small, as is the case in Texas. Following an introduction and literature review, the third chapter takes advantage of a natural experiment to demonstrate how spillovers in production limit total cumulative recovery, and how the assignment of secure property rights can enhance economic outcomes. The chapter examines production from wells in Oklahoma and Texas near the panhandle border. While wells on either side of this line have similar geologies and so should be similarly productive they are exposed to different treatments: Oklahoma has a much higher rate of unitization (a contractual scheme where competing owners hire a common operator and share profits), whereas the unitization rate in Texas is lower. Using regression discontinuity design, I find that Oklahoma wells are produced more slowly early on, and that this results in greater cumulative recovery over the course of a well’s life (150% more relative to Texas). These results are robust after controlling for reservoir specific effects, and across parametric, semi-parametric and nonparametric specifications. xiiThe fourth chapter quantifies the degree to which competing owners interfere with each other’s production through spatial spillovers. I use a spatial econometric model that controls for spatial autocorrelation and spatial dependence and can therefore identify the spillovers in production. Additionally, by comparing leases owned by competing producers to leases owned by a common producer, I show empirically how securing property rights through common ownership can alleviate the externality in production. A priori, one would expect that when a common producer owns adjacent leases, the producer has the incentive to fully account for how spillovers in production affect neighboring wells. Conversely, when adjacent landowners are in competition to extract the resource, they will not account for the damage rapid production causes at neighboring wells. After controlling for secondary injection I find that this is indeed the case for Slaughter field of West Texas. The fifth chapter investigates the statistical properties of oil and natural gas production. I find striking evidence that both oil and natural gas production are power-law distributed with the exponent approximately equal to one. This distribution might arise from disequilibrium in production and exploration. Highlighting this distribution is important because it has potential consequences for the political economy of regulation as well as for resource management. For example, because the most productive wells lie in the far-right tail of the distribution, regulation geared to prevent a Deepwater Horizon scale spill need fall on a vanishingly small percent of wells. The distribution also has consequences for management because a company profitability depends disproportionately on how it manages its most productive wells. The sixth chapter provides a short conclusion.

The effects of changing nozzle hole patterns and hole geometry in a direct injection natural gas optically accessible engine was investigated. Six nozzles were studied having a 1 hole, 3 hole, and 9 hole pattern; each having either elliptical or circular hole geometries. Combustion images were taken with a high speed camera and the nozzles were compared on the basis of their ignition delay time, rate of heat release, net heat release, fuel utilization, gross indicated thermal efficiency, and particulate emissions. The best performance in all categories was achieved by the 9 hole nozzles which was largely attributed to better fuel mixing as a result of its hole distribution. The elliptical hole geometry exhibited characteristics of improved mixing mainly through reduced ignition delay time and reduced elemental carbon emissions.