Earth Day 2022: Reducing Emissions Through Our Commitment To System Modernization

Each year, Atmos Energy celebrates Earth Day alongside the 1,400 communities it serves by planting trees, enhancing neighborhood parks and local green spaces, supporting community gardens, and sharing our commitment to lowering carbon emissions. Beginning today and continuing all week, we will publish a series of stories about the ways in which natural gas plays a vital role in achieving our low carbon energy future for generations to come.

At Atmos Energy, many of the activities we do each and every day to improve the safety and reliability of our system also have a positive impact on the environment.  In 2018, we announced our goal to reduce methane emissions from our distribution system mains and services by 50 percent from 2017 to 2035. We’re well on our way to achieving that goal, and since our announcement, we have reduced emissions from these sources by about 20 percent due to system modernization. Additionally, in late 2021, we achieved a major milestone by replacing the last of the cast iron piping in our system.   

“In 2022, we’ll continue our system modernization work by seeking to replace between 800 and 1,000 miles of pipe and 20,000 to 30,000 steel services lines,” said John McDill, Atmos Energy senior vice president of utility operations. “This work has the potential to reduce emissions by 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year, which is like removing nearly 5,500 cars from the road each year.”

We also kicked off an effort to reduce methane emissions from pneumatic natural gas bleed devices, which we use to regulate pressure and flow of natural gas. Beginning this year, we will use low- or no-bleed devices when feasible for all newly installed pneumatic bleed devices.  We are also working to reduce emissions from our existing inventory of over 4,000 devices, with an emphasis on the replacement of approximately 670 high bleed devices to most effectively lower emissions. In the first year of replacements, we anticipate a reduction of over 10,000 metric tons of CO2e per year – which is equivalent to removing more than 2,000 cars from the road annually.

We’re employing an array of advanced technologies across our company to monitor methane emissions at our compression and storage facilities and along our pipeline delivery systems. Gas cloud imaging (GCI) technology is now fully operational at our Tri-Cities storage facility in Texas, providing 24/7 real-time monitoring and immediate notification of any release of methane, along with an indication of the intensity, allowing for immediate repair. This technology uses imaging coupled with machine learning analytics to also determine the shape of a gas plume and measure the concentration of a leak. 

We’ve also installed packing vent monitoring systems on Atmos Pipeline-Texas compression units and are developing plans to install monitoring technologies at our other storage and compression facilities, and we will complete this work on all planned units by the end of 2023.

Advanced mobile leak detection (AMLD) technology, including cavity ring-down spectroscopy for surveying our distribution system, is 1,000 times more sensitive than legacy technologies. Atmos Energy currently has AMLD technology units mounted on 13 vehicles in our fleet, including two new AMLD vehicles, one each for our Colorado and Mississippi service areas, added this year. 

At times, Atmos Energy utilizes a zero emissions vacuum and compressor (ZEVAC) unit to perform routine maintenance resulting in the safe removal of natural gas.  This innovative technology provides an emission-less solution as an alternative to releasing natural gas into the atmosphere or flaring during this routine maintenance.  For larger projects, we may utilize other recompression technologies to capture and reinject gas that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere or flared. This maintenance procedure is a necessary, safe, and standard industry practice used to extract natural gas from an isolated section of pipeline, for which we now have the potential to reduce venting by 85 percent on identified projects once fully implemented.

Our efforts to reduce methane emissions extend beyond our ongoing system modernization to include our fleet of over 3,900 vehicles.  We’re incorporating two key components to our fleet strategy: compressed natural gas (CNG) and hybrid technology, which will help us maintain a fleet that can support the safe and reliable operation of our system while reducing emissions.  For offices with appropriate scale and scope, we plan to install onsite CNG infrastructure and begin purchasing CNG vehicles in 2022. In addition, all service centers across the enterprise have begun ordering gasoline-hybrid vehicles.

To learn more about Atmos Energy’s commitment to a low carbon energy future, please visit the Environment section of our Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability website, and visit earthday.org/2022 to participate in Earth Day 2022.

As you can see, many of the activities we do each and every day to improve the safety and reliability of our system also support environmental sustainability.  Furthermore, affordable housing starts with affordable energy. Natural gas is efficient energy that helps you save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions every month.  In addition, Atmos Energy:  

• Offers financial incentives for customers to purchase high-efficiency natural gas appliances, smart thermostats, and weatherization materials in our Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas (Mid-Tex) divisions. Take advantage of SmartChoice money-saving rebates on high-efficiency natural gas appliances and equipment for your home and business by visiting atmosenergy.com/rebates.   

• Is a founding partner of the EPA’s Methane Challenge and Natural Gas STAR programs, which are voluntary initiatives that encourage oil and natural gas companies to improve efficiency and reduce methane emissions.   

• Is a member of Our Nation’s Energy Future Coalition (ONE Future), a voluntary alliance of leading companies across the natural gas supply chain focused on technology and policy solutions to drive continual improvement in the reduction of methane emissions.   

• Is a sponsor of the Low-Carbon Resources Initiative (LCRI), a joint project of the Electric Power Research Institute and the Gas Technology Institute designed to accelerate the commercial deployment of low- and zero-carbon technologies in the energy sector for economy-wide deep decarbonization. 

Natural gas plays a vital role in achieving a low-carbon future, and Atmos Energy is excited to celebrate Earth Day in recognition of the energy independence and economic prosperity that our sustainability efforts will deliver today and for generations to come.   

To learn more about Atmos Energy’s commitment to a low carbon energy future, please visit the Environment section of our Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability website and visit earthday.org/2022 to participate in Earth Day 2022.