In less than 12 months of commercial operation, Calgary-based clean technology company Kathairos Solutions is reporting unprecedented adoption of its novel methane elimination system for remote oil and gas well sites.
The uptake of Kathairos’ technology, and the 40,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions it has abated in its first year, equates to planting 660,000 trees in 12 months.
Kathairos eliminates methane venting on remote wells by using liquid nitrogen – an inert, non-polluting fuel source – to operate pneumatic devices. Nitrogen has a gas equivalence ratio (GER) of 1.2764, meaning each unit of nitrogen used directly eliminates 1.2764 units of methane that would have otherwise been vented to the atmosphere.
Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas with 28 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.
The Kathairos solution will play an imperative role in Alberta’s shift to a carbon-neutral economy by 2050 – a target Alberta’s UCP Government has championed through its Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan.
The Kathairos solution produces zero onsite emissions and addresses a longstanding issue plaguing remote well sites. It provides a profoundly clean, simple and reliable fuel source to pneumatic devices, which are responsible for 40% of upstream oil and gas methane emissions. Further, it affords producers the first truly economical way to address pneumatic venting.
The low monthly rental cost of the Kathairos solution combined with Alberta’s Emission Offset System allows Alberta producers to monetize their emission reductions, creating an important market incentive for decarbonizing the oil and gas industry.
Over the past 12 months, Kathairos has successfully entered pilot and commercial operations with more than 60 major North American oil and gas producers across 17 oil and gas-producing basins.
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