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Methane is a powerful, but invisible greenhouse gas produced both naturally and by various industrial sectors including the fossil fuel industries, agriculture, and even out landfills.
In order to tackle this dangerous gas, we need to know where it's coming from, which is why this page has been put together.
Some of these maps will show multiple sources including landfills, livestock farms, and fossil fuel infrastructure including abandoned wells or mines. Others focus on more specific sources such as shipping routes, or just oil fields and their wells.
The Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker (GGIT) (Interactive)"is an information resource on natural gas transmission pipeline projects and liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and export terminals. Currently, GGIT aims to include all LNG terminals regardless of threshold, as well as all global gas transmission pipelines over predetermined size thresholds. An interactive map shows pipeline routes and terminal locations, and tables provide additional data on each project. Both the map and table can be filtered, and more information is provided on project-specific wiki pages housed on GEM.wiki. The sources used during research and data collection are cited in each project’s wiki page. The internal GGIT database and wiki pages are updated continuously throughout the year, and an annual release is published and distributed with data summary tables."
The Global Methane Emitters Tracker (GMET) "provides estimates of fossil fuel emissions at oil and gas and coal extraction sites, natural gas transmission pipelines, proposed projects and reserves, and attribution of remotely-sensed methane plumes.
As of November 2023, the first version of the tracker includes methane emissions estimates for coal extraction and gas pipelines, attributions of remotely-sensed methane plume observations for oil and gas infrastructures in North America, and coal mine observations worldwide. The tracker will expand its remotely-sensed plume attribution coverage in future iterations. GMET also associates assets within GEM’s Oil & Gas Extraction Tracker to the methane emissions estimates developed by Climate TRACE."
The Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker (GOGET) (Interactive) "is a global dataset of oil and gas resources and their development. GOGET includes information on discovered, in-development, and operating oil and gas units worldwide, including both conventional and unconventional assets. The dataset tracks the status, ownership, production, and reserves of each unit, as data is available. Units that have production of 1 million boe/yr or more and/or reserves of 25 million boe or more are included. The data is provided in both map and table format. Each unit included in the tracker is linked to a wiki page on GEM.wiki, which provides additional details, including references for the data."
The Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker (GOGPT) (Interactive) is a worldwide dataset of oil and gas-fired power plants. It includes units with capacities of 50 megawatts (MW) or more (20 MW or more in the European Union and the United Kingdom). For internal combustion units, or those units that have multiple identically sized engines, the 50 MW capacity unit threshold applies to the total capacity of the set of engines. The GOGPT catalogs every oil and gas power plant at this capacity threshold of any status, including operating, announced, pre-construction, construction, shelved, cancelled, mothballed, or retired. Units often consist of a boiler and gas or steam turbines, and several units may make up one power station. The map and underlying data is updated bi-annually, in February and August. Each plant included in the tracker is linked to a wiki page on GEM.wiki, which provides additional details."
The Global Oil Infrastructure Tracker (GOIT) (Interactive) is an information resource on crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) transmission pipeline projects and their development. Currently, GOIT attempts to include all global crude oil and NGL transmission pipelines of any status, though availability on this infrastructure varies across countries and regions, and some are researched more completely than others. An interactive map shows pipeline routes, and tables allow users to access additional data on each project. Both the map and table can be filtered, and more information is provided on project-specific wiki pages housed on GEM.wiki. The sources used during research and data collection are cited in each project’s wiki page. The internal GOIT database and wiki pages are updated continuously throughout the year, and an annual release is published and distributed with data summary tables."
Mapping Methane Emissions from Fossil Fuel Exploitation "Scientists map 97 million metric tons of methane emissions from the exploitation of oil, natural gas, and coal."
VISIONS: The EMIT Open Data Portal "This portal shows high-confidence research grade methane plume complexes from point source emitters - updated as they are identified - in keeping with our Open Science and Open Data policy. These results will enable user groups and the public to access the information quickly and utilize the data. This mapping effort is a prototype component of the NASA Earth Science contribution to a U.S. Government Greenhouse Gas (GHG) information system."
More People Care About Climate Change than You Think "The majority of people in every country support action on climate, but the public consistently underestimates this share."
The Africa Gas Tracker (Interactive) "provides a comprehensive dataset of gas infrastructure across Africa. The tracker covers gas pipelines, LNG terminals, oil and gas-fired power plants, and gas extraction sites. The map and underlying data are updated every year, and each project has a dedicated wiki page on GEM.wiki that provides extensive detail on the project, such as the project’s status, capacity, and ownership."
The Asia Gas Tracker (Interactive) "provides a comprehensive dataset of gas infrastructure across East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The tracker covers gas pipelines, LNG terminals, oil and gas-fired power plants, and gas extraction sites. The map and underlying data are updated regularly, and each project has a dedicated wiki page on GEM.wiki that provides extensive detail on the project, such as the project’s status, capacity, and ownership."
The European Gas Tracker (Interactive) is the world’s top gas importing region, deriving more than 80% of its annual consumption from external sources. The Europe Gas Tracker provides a compilation of GEM’s data on methane and hydrogen gas infrastructure across Europe, within and outside of the EU, as well as a few other countries* within the European gas network such as Türkiye. The Tracker covers methane gas pipelines; LNG terminals; oil, gas-fired power plants; and methane gas extraction sites. The Tracker also covers proposals to convert methane infrastructure to hydrogen usage as well as proposals for brand new hydrogen infrastructure. The map and underlying data are updated regularly, and each project has a dedicated wiki page on GEM.wiki that provides extensive detail on the project, such as the project’s status, capacity, cost and ownership."
Portal Energético para América Latina "GEM’s Latin America Energy Portal offers a region-wide perspective on energy infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean, through interactive maps and thousands of wiki pages. The Portal synthesizes GEM’s research on nearly 5,000 projects throughout the region, including coal- and gas-fired power plants, oil and gas pipelines, oil and gas extraction sites, LNG terminals, solar farms, wind farms, coal terminals, coal mines and steel plants that meet a predetermined size threshold. Additional resources include country energy profiles, statistical data, reports, and links to organizations working towards a sustainable energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean. ...
To learn about the various components of each GEM tracker, read About GEM’s Trackers. To receive notifications on this project, please sign up for our mailing list. If you have questions about this project, please contact the Project Manager, Gregor Clark."
Alberta
Orphaned Wells Map (Interactive) Click the small image of the map, to access the interactive map.
British Columbia
BCER: Map of Orphan Sites (interactive)
LNG Tanker Tracker "A map to explore the LNG Tankers arriving and departing operational LNG export terminals in the U.S."
Orphan Well Map "This is a map of more than 120,000 documented orphan wells that are eligible for closure funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. These wells, which have no solvent owner of record, can leak oil, gas and other toxic chemicals into our air and water. Plugging these wells will protect our environment, climate and communities while creating well-paying, stable jobs."
California
Methane Source Finder this interactive map indicates which methane plumes are from agriculture, energy production, or waste sites.
Well Finder "The Geologic Energy Management Division's (CalGEM) online mapping application Well Finder presents California’s oil and gas industry information from the geographic perspective. You can find and locate oil and gas wells and other types of related facilities throughout the state."
Pennsylvania
New Mexico
The Permian Methane Analysis Project (PermianMAP) "combined established data collection methods with state-of-the-art technologies to pinpoint, measure and report on oil and gas methane emissions in the Permian Basin."
New York
Mapping Orphan Wells in New York (PDF) "New map shows the location of all 7,042 currently documented orphan wells in the state. Pending federal legislation will invest nearly $5 billion to plug and clean up these and the more than 81,000 other documented orphan wells across the country."
Texas
Inactive Wells Map "Number of inactive unplugged wells by Texas County. Source: Railroad Commission of Texas. Inactive Well Aging Report.
Inactive wells are those with an active operator that have been inactive for at least 12 months. These wells do not meet the definition of “orphaned wells.” Operators are still responsible for plugging these wells."
Mapping Orphan Wells in Texas "Orphan Wells Are Threatening Texas Communities New map shows the location of all 6,489 currently documented orphan wells in the state. Pending federal legislation will invest nearly $5 billion to plug and clean up these and the more than 81,000 other documented orphan wells across the country."
Orphaned Wells Map "Number of orphaned wells by Texas County. Source: Railroad Commission of Texas. Orphan Wells with Delinquent P-5 Greater Than 12 Months.
Orphaned wells have no active operator on file with the Railroad Commission of Texas. The wells on this list have been inactive at least 12 months, and the operator’s organization report (P-5) has also been delinquent for at least 12 months."
The Permian Methane Analysis Project (PermianMAP) "combined established data collection methods with state-of-the-art technologies to pinpoint, measure and report on oil and gas methane emissions in the Permian Basin."
Portal Energético para América Latina "GEM’s Latin America Energy Portal offers a region-wide perspective on energy infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean, through interactive maps and thousands of wiki pages. The Portal synthesizes GEM’s research on nearly 5,000 projects throughout the region, including coal- and gas-fired power plants, oil and gas pipelines, oil and gas extraction sites, LNG terminals, solar farms, wind farms, coal terminals, coal mines and steel plants that meet a predetermined size threshold. Additional resources include country energy profiles, statistical data, reports, and links to organizations working towards a sustainable energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean. ...
To learn about the various components of each GEM tracker, read About GEM’s Trackers. To receive notifications on this project, please sign up for our mailing list. If you have questions about this project, please contact the Project Manager, Gregor Clark."