As Trump touts ‘drill, baby, drill’ agenda, CSU researchers work to lower methane emissions
share
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The smell of sulfur lingers in the air above the Methane Emissions Technology Evaluation Center (METEC). Researchers are used to odor. The Colorado State University lab works to devise better methods to detect methane emissions.
METEC is not an operational oil and gas well — it’s the Hollywood equivalent, complete with wellheads, tanks, separators and pipelines repurposed from real oil and gas wells.
What makes the site unique is its ability to release precise amounts of methane from over 200 release points. These simulated leaks allow entrepreneurs to test new sensors, oil and gas employees to practice detecting leaks and researchers to conduct experiments.
Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is the second-largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. Although methane has a shorter lifespan than carbon dioxide, it can trap 28 times more heat in the atmosphere.
In order to reduce methane emissions, people first need to know where gas is coming from. That’s why researchers at METEC are working to test new detection methods and devise better models for pinpointing methane leaks.
Despite awareness of methane’s impact on global warming, global methane emissions are rising faster than ever.
Last week, President Trump signed a resolution blocking a fee to punish energy companies for excess methane emissions. The Trump Administration’s push to increase domestic fossil fuel production is likely to increase oil and gas development in Colorado.
Agriculture, fossil fuel production and landfills are the largest sources of methane.
Detecting methane has come a long way from the days when miners used lit wicks or canaries to detect gas pockets. Until recently, modern methane detection has relied on cameras and chemical sniffing devices that can detect the presence of particular gasses.
This method works fine on a small scale, but it requires technicians to examine every flange and coupler on a piece of equipment to detect leaks.
Dan Zimmerle, the director of METEC, said that this way of detecting leaks quickly becomes a problem when you think about just how many oil and gas wells there are. The Denver-Julesburg basin in Northern Colorado is home to 30,000 production wells alone.
Researchers began running tests at METEC in 2017. In March 2025, sensors from 10 different companies participating in baseline testing of their devices crowded the facility.
METEC receives 60 to 70 percent of its funding from the federal government. The rest comes from companies who pay to test their products at the site.
METEC was awarded a $300 million grant through the Inflation Reduction Act to help small operators mitigate emissions on their wells.
Zimmerle said that METEC remains in the dark about the status of their project since the Trump Administration has stalled funding.
Advances in sensor technology and computing have allowed for the development of methane sensors that can cover a much larger area than a worker with a camera or gas sniffer. Most of the sensors being tested at METEC are mounted on a tripod with an anemometer, or wind meter, that measures the speed and direction of the wind.
Sensors periodically test for the presence of gas. When gas is detected, computer models use data showing the direction and speed of the wind to determine where on a well the leak might be coming from.
Zimmerle said that spring is an especially good time to run tests because the weather is extremely variable, providing a multitude of testing conditions.
Until the end of March, METEC will continue baseline testing. This means that the lab will only release methane in quantities that would be considered normal on an oil and gas site. Later this spring, Zimmerle and his team will begin to introduce “fugitive” leaks. These are excessive emissions that would signal a problem on a well.
Methane’s molecular structure — one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms — means it can absorb and radiate more frequencies of light than carbon dioxide. This is the reason that methane is such a potent greenhouse gas.
Fortunately, researchers are able to exploit these molecular traits to detect methane. Zimmerle pointed to a sensor, shaped like R2D2, that uses a laser to detect methane. If methane is detected, methane molecules deflect the beam. By firing the laser at different frequencies, the sensor can detect the presence or absence of methane in the air.
Ezekiel Alaba, a second-year doctoral student in mechanical engineering, said that METEC is like the “NASA of methane emission quantification.”
Alaba’s research uses drone-mounted sensors to model methane emissions. He said that in Nigeria, where he grew up, there isn’t a central, regulatory body looking into emissions.
“With the knowledge of what we’re doing here, I should be able to help with that in Nigeria,” he said.
Although METEC maintains a close relationship with oil and gas companies, the lab’s research is often mutually beneficial to regulators who enforce methane emission standards.
For example, research may alert oil and gas companies of where unaccounted emissions are coming from. That information provides the company with valuable information and can alert regulators of where they may want to focus their efforts, said Zimmerle.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment has contributed funding and data to METEC’s projects, including the Colorado Ongoing Basin Emissions Study and the Site-Aerial-Basin Emissions Reconciliation Project.
“Reducing methane emissions is one of the most cost-effective, technically feasible, and fastest ways to address climate change,” said Leah Schleifer, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment
Zimmerle said that in a typical year, METEC works with half a dozen NGOs and half a dozen regulator groups.
“The thing that's never really covered much about oil and gas emissions is how much companies have literally re-engineered their process to eliminate whole classes of emission sources,” said Zimmerle.
For oil and gas companies, there is some economic impetus to reduce emissions. Less gas escaping into the atmosphere means more gas to sell. There’s also pressure from regulations, said Zimmerle, particularly regulations outside of the U.S. that aren’t as dependent on which political party that controls the White House.
“If you're selling to Europe, you still have to meet European regulations,” he said.
But he thinks the biggest reason oil and gas operations choose to tighten up emissions is because of stakeholder pressure.
“There's a lot more focus on being seen as progressive,” said Zimmerle, though he admits that the companies who work with METEC aren’t representative of the entire industry.
Methane emissions caused by oil and gas aren’t going away anytime soon.
People fail to understand, “how large the energy system is. Replacing the infrastructure we have with something new is extremely challenging. On the oil and gas side, you see people underestimate how capable things like renewable energy really are,” said Zimmerle.
“You end up with the extremists on both ends. They're not listening to us anyway, so we don't bother talking to them, frankly.”
As far as technology goes, Zimmerle said that the next step to improve methane detection will be to incorporate sensors into equipment itself.
That way, “You don't need to wait for [methane] to get into the atmosphere, blow downwind and hit a sensor, observe it for eight hours and then throw an alarm. You're going to see it right away.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.