Research across multiple basins shows that super-emitters like these can account for as much as 60% of total regional methane emissions in certain basins. Taken together, the ten highly persistent emitters highlighted above release over 228,000 metric tons of methane annually or 19 million metric tons of CO2e.

In practical terms, that adds up to:

Approximately $71 million USD in lost product annually. Assuming a repair cost of $520/t, the recovered gas would cover around 60% of the total mitigation cost. Actual abatement costs vary, and recent reports suggest a significant portion of emissions could be abated at much lower, or even net-zero, cost.

Enough energy to generate more than 1.8 million MWh of electricity, roughly equivalent to the annual output of 1-2 mid-sized power plants — assuming a benchmark plant produces ~1,000,000 MWh/year ( 200–300 MW units at ~50% capacity factor)¹.

This is not an exhaustive list of persistent emitters, but rather an example of ten locations where timely action would deliver disproportionate climate and economic benefits relative to the time and investment required.

Bringing the Methane Emissions Challenge into Focus

Highly persistent super-emitters are low-hanging fruit in the urgent effort to slow near-term warming. For years, methane mitigation was constrained by limited visibility into where emissions were taking place. Today, groups like Carbon Mapper are providing access to high-resolution satellite emissions data to support governments, industry and civil society as they work to reduce methane emissions.

As Carbon Mapper continues to analyze new satellite observations, these figures will evolve — providing an even clearer picture of the challenges and opportunities in tackling fugitive methane across the oil and gas, waste, coal, and agricultural sectors.

Methane data is only one piece of the methane action puzzle, the challenge – and opportunity – is acting quickly on what we can now clearly see. Carbon Mapper is committed to collaborating with industry, governments, community organizations, and other stakeholders to translate data into timely, lasting emissions reductions.

Collaborating with Carbon Mapper

Learn more about these sites and others on Carbon Mapper’s public data portal or reach out to us at info@carbonmapper.org to discuss how we can work together to drive methane action.

^{1 EIA natural gas conversion of 7721 btu (0.007721 MMBTU) per KWH -}^{https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec12_7.pdf}^{| 1 mmbtu= 129.5 kwh | 14,464,934.5 x 129.5 = 1,873,209,000 kwh = 1,873,209 MWH | Capacity factor of 50-60% = 936,605 - 1,123,925 MWh | Based on -}^{https://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_04_08_b.html}

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