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30 Oct 2024
$162M loan from US Department of Energy to speed roll-out of network based around optical frequency combs.
LongPath Technologies, the Colorado–based startup that has developed laser-based sensing tools for sensing methane gas emissions, says that the technology will now be deployed across the US.
Thanks in part to a $162 million loan just confirmed by the US Department of Energy, the firm’s optical frequency combs will be used to create a nationwide methane emissions monitoring network.
“This funding…will revolutionize emissions monitoring across major US oil and gas production regions, including California, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming,” announced the company.
“With DOE's financial backing, LongPath plans to install over 1000 advanced laser-based methane sensing nodes, covering up to 24,000 square miles and monitoring tens of thousands of facilities.”
Earlier this year the DOE’s loan office had given conditional approval for a $189 million loan guarantee, noting that the network project was expected to create 35 construction jobs and 266 operations jobs at its peak.
Autonomous operation
Spun out from CTO co-founder Gregory Rieker’s laser diagnostics laboratory at the University of Colorado back in 2018, LongPath has previously deployed the technology at key locations including the Permian Basin of southeast New Mexico and Northwest Texas.
The frequency comb equipment - based on research that won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2005 - is able to emit light at hundreds of thousands of discrete wavelengths, and use spectral absorption data to determine the concentration of different gases encountered along the laser’s path.
Other techniques can be used to monitor methane - including satellite-based instruments - but the key advantage of LongPath’s approach is that it can run continuously and autonomously, whereas most other methods rely on an operator conducting spot checks.
When combined with simulations of how wind transports different gases around the atmosphere, the parts-per-billion methane concentration measurements enable triangulation of the location and size of each trace gas source - meaning that methane leaks can be identified and addressed more easily.
LongPath CEO Ian Dickinson said: “Our laser-equipped system provides US oil and gas producers with an affordable, high-impact tool to ensure compliance, optimize leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs, and eliminate costly methane leaks.
“This loan speeds up our capacity to offer operators the technology needed to achieve significant methane reductions, supporting both operational efficiency and environmental sustainability.”
Methane impact
Reckoned by the International Energy Agency to be responsible for around 30 per cent of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution, methane gas is much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide but present in the atmosphere at a much lower concentration overall.
However, methane is also a more reactive molecule, meaning that its atmospheric lifetime is only around 12 years - much shorter than carbon dioxide - meaning that efforts to reduce methane emissions should take effect much more rapidly.
Methane also affects air quality because it can lead to the creation of ozone at low altitudes, and is generally regarded as a dangerous air pollutant that also poses a risk of explosions. LongPath's spectroscopic technology promises to reduce those risks, as well as help energy companies cut down on waste through "fugitive" emissions of the gas.
“The journey from lab to loan is a testament to the power of scientific innovation and the collaborative spirit between academia and industry,” said Rieker of the latest development. "Our technology, rooted in years of research at the University of Colorado and NIST, embodies the transition from groundbreaking science to real-world impact.
"This DOE loan signifies the next step in bringing lab-based advancements to the commercial stage, enabling us to revolutionize methane emissions monitoring and create meaningful change for both industry and the environment.”
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