Mapping fossil fuel emissions from space

A new tool to measure ethane—commonly found in natural gas and used in plastics manufacturing—from space may lead to a better understanding of fossil fuel emissions worldwide.

U of M researchers used a satellite-based instrument to detect how infrared radiation emitted by the Earth travels through the atmosphere. Some of this radiation is absorbed by gases in Earth’s atmosphere, and provides a way to quantify those gases.

“Oil and gas extraction degrades air quality and contributes to climate warming. Diagnosing and mitigating these impacts requires accurate knowledge of the underlying emissions,” says coauthor Dylan Millet, a professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS). “However, this is challenging due to a lack of measurements and because many key pollutants have other sources that are hard to distinguish from the oil and gas emissions.”

The team mapped ethane over key oil and gas basins. Among the findings:

· The Permian Basin in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico has the highest persistent ethane signals on the planet.

· This single basin accounts for at least 4 to 7 percent of the total fossil-fuel ethane worldwide.

· Ethane emissions from the Permian are currently underestimated by sevenfold.

The study was published in published in Nature Communications.

Beef industry can reduce emissions

Greenhouse gases have been the largest driver of climate change since the mid-20th century—including from agriculture. The U.S. beef industry alone accounts for 3.3 percent of the nation’s total emissions.

Research from the Institute on the Environment (IonE) and the Nature Conservancy noted steps the U.S. beef industry can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30 percent. Researchers developed the first county-level, location-specific assessment of the beef industry’s environmental impact, identifying geographic emission hotspots along the supply chain.

Among the findings:

· The U.S. beef industry currently emits nearly 258 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year.

· Emissions from feed production associated with beef sourcing and confinement are concentrated in the Great Plains and Midwest, while emissions from grazing tend to be more evenly distributed across the West.

· Nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions could be mitigated by implementing alternative practices in grazing, feed production, and confinement and processing, including strategies such as cover cropping, feed additives, and energy management.

“The beef supply chain is one of the country’s most intricate food production systems, making it difficult for beef processors to identify opportunities for reducing their emissions,” says Rylie Pelton, lead author and research scientist with IonE. “Our highly tailored assessment offers distinct recommendations for different parts of the country.”

For example, Pelton and her team noted adding trees to pasturelands in the Southeast could store more carbon in grazing areas. In the Northern Great Plains, repairing degraded wetland areas could achieve the same result.

This study was published in Nature Food.

LGBTQ+ policies reduce discrimination

Researchers from the School of Public Health (SPH) examined policies designed to protect the LGBTQ+ community. Of the more than 8 percent of U.S. adults who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, 1 in 3 report experiencing discrimination in the past year. Those who identify as transgender and nonbinary are exposed to even more discrimination, which is associated with worse health outcomes.

Using survey data from the National Couples’ Health and Time Study, researchers looked at whether state-level LGBTQ+ policies reduce discrimination, particularly among transgender and nonbinary individuals.

The study found:

· Over 90 percent of transgender and nonbinary individuals have experienced discrimination, compared to 74 percent of cisgender sexual minorities and 73.2 percent of cisgender heterosexual individuals.

· Protective state-level LGBTQ+ policies significantly reduced instances of discrimination. States with more protections saw rates drop from 98 percent to 69.8 percent among transgender and nonbinary people.

· Cisgender sexual minorities and heterosexual individuals saw only minor reductions in discrimination in states with protective policies, indicating transgender and nonbinary individuals benefit most from them.

“The magnitude of discrimination face by transgender and nonbinary individuals was both expected and alarming,” says Alex Bates, SPH researcher and lead author. “What surprised us most was the significant impact that state-level protections have in reducing these harmful experiences. Our findings suggest that strengthening these policies—and resisting the push for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation—will be key to improving the well-being of this vulnerable population.”

This study was published in Population Research and Policy Review.

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