Leaked Methane Is Focus Of ARPA-E Funding

Some $30 million in new funding for advanced systems to detect and measure methane emissions from production and transportation of oil and natural gas was announced last week by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Another $30 million was offered to develop innovative, localized thermal management systems that cut energy needed to heat and cool buildings. In the announcement, ARPA-E officials noted that more than 12% of all U.S. energy is used for heating and cooling buildings and that abating methane emissions is critical because the gas makes up some 9% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.