Aviva Litovitz, et. al, "Estimation of regional air-quality damages from Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction in Pennsylvania," Environmental Research Letters, Volume 8, Number 1 (2013), accessed October 2, 2015, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/014017.
Abstract:
The research focus was on the emissions from the development of shale drilling in Pennsylvania. The analysis included environmental and health disturbance on the community, measured financially. The findings were less extreme than expected. However, NOx concentration was exceptionally above the legal limits in the surrounding areas. This is a product of the "gas production and compression," which happens throughout the life cycle, not only at formation, of a drilling well.
Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
Aviva Litovitz
Works at RAND Corporation (will follow up
Expertise: Policy analysis, with an energy, technology, and environment focus. She is a very interesting part of this puzzle of governance and science. If only her focus was more specifically on the air pollution.
Work for her dissertation: "• Modeling the interactions between publically-funded grants and research output.
• Compiling a new dataset of academic researchers, including grant information from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy.
• Research design, econometric modeling, data gathering and compilation, text mining."
Not city focused but certainly about air pollution governance. Possibly useful for the global scale researchers.
Constantine Samaras
RAND Corporation and Carnegie Melon University
Expertise: public policy in civil/env. engineering
"His research spans energy, climate, and defense decisionmaking. Samaras analyzes how policy actions and research and development (R&D) investments affect energy use and national security, infrastructure requirements, economic and innovation outcomes, and life cycle environmental impacts. " (http://www.rand.org/about/people/s/samaras_constantine.html)
Lots of research on alternative energy and greenhouse gas emissions
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
The article found the emissions from Marcellus drilling and gasoline production for the year 2011, in pollutants produced and then in financial damage to the state.
The emissions from development were at most a third of the total emissions produced. "Ongoing activities represent the majority of emissions," meaning that the activities that will continue occurring are the large cause for the air pollution. The initial drilling of a well is not the harmful part, it is what comes afterwards.
VOCs, NOx, and PM2.5 were 94% of the emissions throughout the drilling and fracking process.
The article pushed for more specific emission regulations of oil wells, because different steps produce large ranges of pollutants. There are also different distributions of extraction plants within a state, therefore the impact to the state is not the impact of a particular region. The article encourages control of this variance.
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
Comparisons are made of the shale drilling and gas production emissions to other industrial emissions for the state of Pennsylvania.
The county data is formed into state data, but county data is referred to in order to make a point about interpretation of information (the NOx concentrations are extremely high for areas nearby the extraction points, but the overall state NOx concentrations are not as dramatic.)
The steps of the extraction and processing that have high pollutant emission are described and variance/ranges are clearly stated.
The sources for models and methods of data collection and analysis were cited clearly and explained.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
"Environmental concerns often relate to risks to water resources [...]. However, utilizing natural gas from shale deposits also produces air emissions of various types during extraction, transportation, and end use"
"Some extraction activities occur in regions of Pennsylvania that influence the air quality of populated areas of other states; so while our estimates of emissions were confined to extraction activities in the state of Pennsylvania, these damages should be considered a regional impact, given that pollutants may cross the state border"
"Development activities represent about a third or less of total extraction-related emissions (35–17% across the estimated range), whereas ongoing activities represent the majority of emissions (65–83% across the range). Compressor station activities alone represent 60–75% of all extractionassociated damages."
"Compared to total emissions from all industries reporting, the shale extraction industry in 2011 was producing relatively little conventional air pollution. Only NOx emissions are equivalent to more than 1% of statewide emissions across the entire estimated range."
"Washington County had the fifth largest number of wells (156) in 2011 but resulted in the highest damages, estimated at $1.2–8.3 million. Damage in this county represented about 20% of statewide damages from the extraction industry16. And while not typical of 2011 development, this example illustrates the potential impact of extraction when located in relatively populated areas"
the impact to the state is not the impact of a particular region
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
Air pollutants tested for were VOC's, PM, NOx, and SO2.
Below lies a figure that shows the process occurring at the Marcellus shale drilling cite.
The processes with possible significant air pollution emissions were analyzed in the research.
Transportation of water to and wastewater from the well (2 and 8 in the figure)
Estimated the diesel pollution by estimating the number of traveling trucks from the NYS Environmental Impact Statement (Why would they use that instead of Pennsylvania's? Also how does this tell us how many trucks used for transport in fracking?) and the pollutant emissions of a single truck from the "Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model" and data from an NRC study on automobile emissions.
The drilling process and development of a well (4)
Used data from reports from major sites of hydraulic fracturing. Some were given, some were collected from the PA DEP Air Emissions Inventory for the Natural Gas Industry.
Gas production (5)
Emissions testing from operators in the area
Possible problems with this data
Large range of emissions varying by the specific well drilled
"In addition to differences between producers, this range may also reflect differences in the operators’ reporting assumptions"
Unclear on how this is accounted for in the research
Compression (7)
Referenced permit applications for drilling- use "potential-to-emit (PTE) emissions values"
The lower range emissions will be produced by a well that is running "below capacity." Higher range emissions come from wells with problems, with "shut-downs and start-ups."
"For each activity we have estimated emissions on a per well or per-unit-of-natural-gas produced basis. Compressor station emissions are estimated per station."
Per-well data was converted to county data
The estimations were translated to dollar value via the Air Pollution Emission Experiments and Policy (APEEP) model
"Converts tons of pollutant emitted into physical health and environmental damages, including mortality, morbidity, crop and timber loss, visibility, and effects on anthropogenic structures and natural ecosystems."
Accounts for sensitivity based on age
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
The health disparities addressed were the difference in air pollution exposure near and far from the Marcellus Shale drilling procedures.
Also, the report addresses different health impacts on older people.
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
According to Google Scholar, this article was cited by 56 scientific journals. The subjects of these journals ranged, focusing on health or air quality or other environmental effects of fracking and natural gas extraction.
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
PA DEP, NY DEC, US EPA, US DOE data and reports about natural gas extraction
Referred to similar instances in another state, but still a similar region.
Other sources were journals on shale drilling, natural gas, greenhouse gases produced, and the economic impact.
What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
RAND Corporation
Supports communities by analyzing and researching sources of public problems, that require stronger government policy.
nonprofit, international
Research on public safety, environment, education, law, etc.
Analysis of the benefits (opposite of cost) of drilling and fracking oil compared to other regional sources of energy (coal power plants) could be a follow up research project for the RAND Corporation.
- Citation:
Aviva Litovitz, et. al, "Estimation of regional air-quality damages from Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction in Pennsylvania," Environmental Research Letters, Volume 8, Number 1 (2013), accessed October 2, 2015, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/014017.- Abstract:
The research focus was on the emissions from the development of shale drilling in Pennsylvania. The analysis included environmental and health disturbance on the community, measured financially. The findings were less extreme than expected. However, NOx concentration was exceptionally above the legal limits in the surrounding areas. This is a product of the "gas production and compression," which happens throughout the life cycle, not only at formation, of a drilling well.Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
- Aviva Litovitz
- Works at RAND Corporation (will follow up
- Expertise: Policy analysis, with an energy, technology, and environment focus. She is a very interesting part of this puzzle of governance and science. If only her focus was more specifically on the air pollution.
- Work for her dissertation: "• Modeling the interactions between publically-funded grants and research output.
- https://www.linkedin.com/pub/aviva-litovitz/96/5a9/549
- Related publications
- Federal Funding and Academic Productivity: Assessing Policy Levers for Sustainable Energy Researchers
- Estimating the consumptive use costs of shale natural gas extraction on Pennsylvania roadways
- One of the costs considered is air pollution.
- Aimee Curtright
- Also works at RAND Corporation
- Expertise: "energy policy and technology assessment"
- http://www.rand.org/about/people/c/curtright_aimee_e.html
- Related publications
- Estimating the Consumptive Use Costs of Shale Natural Gas Extraction on Pennsylvania Roadways
- Transportation focus
- Shmuel Abramzon
- RAND Corporation
- Nicholas Burger
- RAND Corporation
- Expertise: "environmental economics and international development"
- http://www.rand.org/about/people/b/burger_nicholas.html
- Related Publications:
- Outcome Evaluation of U.S. Department of State Support for the Global Methane Initiative
- Not city focused but certainly about air pollution governance. Possibly useful for the global scale researchers.
- Constantine Samaras
- RAND Corporation and Carnegie Melon University
- Expertise: public policy in civil/env. engineering
- "His research spans energy, climate, and defense decisionmaking. Samaras analyzes how policy actions and research and development (R&D) investments affect energy use and national security, infrastructure requirements, economic and innovation outcomes, and life cycle environmental impacts. " (http://www.rand.org/about/people/s/samaras_constantine.html)
- Related publications
- Potentials for Sustainable Transportation in Cities to Alleviate Climate Change Impacts
- Valuation of Plug-In Vehicle Life-Cycle Air Emissions and Oil Displacement Benefits
- Lots of research on alternative energy and greenhouse gas emissions
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?• Compiling a new dataset of academic researchers, including grant information from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy.
• Research design, econometric modeling, data gathering and compilation, text mining."
- The article found the emissions from Marcellus drilling and gasoline production for the year 2011, in pollutants produced and then in financial damage to the state.
- The emissions from development were at most a third of the total emissions produced. "Ongoing activities represent the majority of emissions," meaning that the activities that will continue occurring are the large cause for the air pollution. The initial drilling of a well is not the harmful part, it is what comes afterwards.
- VOCs, NOx, and PM2.5 were 94% of the emissions throughout the drilling and fracking process.
- The article pushed for more specific emission regulations of oil wells, because different steps produce large ranges of pollutants. There are also different distributions of extraction plants within a state, therefore the impact to the state is not the impact of a particular region. The article encourages control of this variance.
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.- Comparisons are made of the shale drilling and gas production emissions to other industrial emissions for the state of Pennsylvania.
- The county data is formed into state data, but county data is referred to in order to make a point about interpretation of information (the NOx concentrations are extremely high for areas nearby the extraction points, but the overall state NOx concentrations are not as dramatic.)
- The steps of the extraction and processing that have high pollutant emission are described and variance/ranges are clearly stated.
- The sources for models and methods of data collection and analysis were cited clearly and explained.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?- "Environmental concerns often relate to risks to water resources [...]. However, utilizing natural gas from shale deposits also produces air emissions of various types during extraction, transportation, and end use"
- "Some extraction activities occur in regions of Pennsylvania that influence the air quality of populated areas of other states; so while our estimates of emissions were confined to extraction activities in the state of Pennsylvania, these damages should be considered a regional impact, given that pollutants may cross the state border"
- "Development activities represent about a third or less of total extraction-related emissions (35–17% across the estimated range), whereas ongoing activities represent the majority of emissions (65–83% across the range). Compressor station activities alone represent 60–75% of all extractionassociated damages."
- "Compared to total emissions from all industries reporting, the shale extraction industry in 2011 was producing relatively little conventional air pollution. Only NOx emissions are equivalent to more than 1% of statewide emissions across the entire estimated range."
- "Washington County had the fifth largest number of wells (156) in 2011 but resulted in the highest damages, estimated at $1.2–8.3 million. Damage in this county represented about 20% of statewide damages from the extraction industry16. And while not typical of 2011 development, this example illustrates the potential impact of extraction when located in relatively populated areas"
- the impact to the state is not the impact of a particular region
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?- Air pollutants tested for were VOC's, PM, NOx, and SO2.
- Below lies a figure that shows the process occurring at the Marcellus shale drilling cite.
- The processes with possible significant air pollution emissions were analyzed in the research.
- Transportation of water to and wastewater from the well (2 and 8 in the figure)
- Estimated the diesel pollution by estimating the number of traveling trucks from the NYS Environmental Impact Statement (Why would they use that instead of Pennsylvania's? Also how does this tell us how many trucks used for transport in fracking?) and the pollutant emissions of a single truck from the "Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model" and data from an NRC study on automobile emissions.
- The drilling process and development of a well (4)
- Used data from reports from major sites of hydraulic fracturing. Some were given, some were collected from the PA DEP Air Emissions Inventory for the Natural Gas Industry.
- Gas production (5)
- Emissions testing from operators in the area
- Possible problems with this data
- Large range of emissions varying by the specific well drilled
- "In addition to differences between producers, this range may also reflect differences in the operators’ reporting assumptions"
- Unclear on how this is accounted for in the research
- Compression (7)
- Referenced permit applications for drilling- use "potential-to-emit (PTE) emissions values"
- The lower range emissions will be produced by a well that is running "below capacity." Higher range emissions come from wells with problems, with "shut-downs and start-ups."
- "For each activity we have estimated emissions on a per well or per-unit-of-natural-gas produced basis. Compressor station emissions are estimated per station."
- Per-well data was converted to county data
- The estimations were translated to dollar value via the Air Pollution Emission Experiments and Policy (APEEP) model
- "Converts tons of pollutant emitted into physical health and environmental damages, including mortality, morbidity, crop and timber loss, visibility, and effects on anthropogenic structures and natural ecosystems."
- Accounts for sensitivity based on age
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?- The health disparities addressed were the difference in air pollution exposure near and far from the Marcellus Shale drilling procedures.
- Also, the report addresses different health impacts on older people.
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)- According to Google Scholar, this article was cited by 56 scientific journals. The subjects of these journals ranged, focusing on health or air quality or other environmental effects of fracking and natural gas extraction.
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?- PA DEP, NY DEC, US EPA, US DOE data and reports about natural gas extraction
- Referred to similar instances in another state, but still a similar region.
- Other sources were journals on shale drilling, natural gas, greenhouse gases produced, and the economic impact.
What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?