"Future of Natural Gas Hinges on Stanching Methane Leaks"

"DAMASCUS, Ark. — In the energy business, natural gas is supposed to be one of the good guys — the cleaner-burning fossil fuel that can help wean the world from dirty coal during the transition to a low-carbon future.

But when natural gas escapes unburned, as it often does during production and distribution, it is a big troublemaker. Its essential component, methane, is particularly pernicious — a greenhouse gas that is more than 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide over 20 years as it dissipates.

That is why, on a recent sweltering day, a team of Southwestern Energy technicians went hunting for leaky pipes and wells on the rolling cow pastures of northern Arkansas. They rode in pickup trucks, outfitted with infrared cameras and laser-beam scanners."

Clifford Krauss reports for the New York Times July 11, 2016.