Commitment to GHG Emissions Reduction
CNX’s Regulatory Reporting Group is responsible for enhancing our regulatory and environmental compliance data management processes. Given the importance of environmental data integrity and transparency and validation of emissions data, this team is devoted to non-financial regulatory data gathering, validation, and reporting. This has improved the timeliness, reliability, and accuracy of our reports, providing emissions data to stakeholders and improving our environmental performance as we utilize the data in our operations. CNX shares best practices with peer companies to help lead the domestic energy industry in this important arena.
In addition to reporting direct Scope 1 emissions, CNX reports both Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions, which are indirect emissions related to the generation of the electricity that we purchase and the estimated downstream use of our natural gas production. All three categories are reported in the ESG Performance Scorecard.
CNX’s GHG emission reduction efforts include:
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Adopting green completions across all of our operations, in which gas produced during flowback operations is captured, rather than being vented to the atmosphere. Improvements include use of CNX patented technological development. See Process Innovation.
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Improving our environmental management information system by leveraging existing supervisory-control and data acquisition systems to further automate data collection.
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Installing emissions controls on tanks and storage vessels located at unconventional well pads.
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Reducing fugitive methane emissions from pipeline pigging activities via predictive maintenance, redesigned work procedures, and state-of-the-art methane capture technology.
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Increasing frequency of routine monitoring for leaks at all well sites and compressor stations.
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Conversion to an electric frac fleet and electrified drilling rig.
CNX Consolidated Scope 1 Intensity derived from combined EPA Subpart W filings for Onshore Production and Gathering & Boosting segments.
CO2e Intensity calculated as tons of CO2e emissions/(tons CO2e production + throughput).
Scope 1 emissions were reported under Subpart W of EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which is consistent with the GHG Protocol’s standards. Total GHG emissions reported consist of the following pollutants: CO2, CH4, and N20. Certain categories under the 2022 Subpart W regulations provide for exclusions for de minimis emissions sources, of which the emissions from such sources are also excluded from the table above.
Scope 2 emissions were derived from the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Guidance for the indirect Emissions from Purchased Electricity.
Scope 1 and 2 emissions include both Production and Gathering & Boosting activities.
Electric Frac Fleet
CNX was a first mover in the Appalachian Basin on all-electric frac spreads, phasing out the use of diesel frac fleets in early 2019. We are now at 100% electric frac fleet usage in our shale completion operations. This not only reduces CO2 emissions from our operation, but has the added benefit of helping CNX achieve its safety, cost savings, and operational efficiency targets, and reduces noise pollution.
Responsibly Sourced Gas (RSG)
Producers and buyers of RSG, a differentiated gas commodity, want to understand the environmental footprint of the molecules they sell or purchase. This requires documentation, tracking, and book-and-claim capabilities. CNX is engaged with Project Canary, which audits and verifies the environmental attributes of RSG and publishes its results to a public registry, increasing transparency for concerned stakeholders. CNX conducts monitoring at our production facilities on a significant portion of the gas we sell to market and has received Project Canary’s highest rating (Platinum) for some sites, a process which requires an environmental assessment, continuous monitoring technology, and quantification of methane emissions intensity. CNX is also engaged with a blockchain-based emissions accounting provider that transforms verified environmental attributes into digital tokens, making the buying and selling of these assets significantly easier and more trustworthy.
Integrated Midstream
CNX’s integrated midstream approach offers several advantages over the conventional relationship between a gas producer and a third-party midstream company. Typically, a gas producer pays for a given takeaway capacity, and delivers all wellpad volumes into a pipeline system within a contractually determined range of pressures. This allows the midstream company to determine how much compression power is needed to fulfill its obligation to the producer. The pressure at the point of custody transfer is typically relatively low, so a significant amount of compression is required to compress volumes from newer wells. This inefficiency cannot be significantly mitigated, as it is enforced by the gathering contract.
In contrast, CNX tailors its gathering system designs to allow the newer wells to bypass compression (“freeflow”) if they have sufficiently high wellhead pressure and adjust its production schedule to avoid brief “peaks” of required compression power at any given location, minimizing the amount of compression within any gas field—whether measured in number of units or in total compressor power. For 2023, CNX estimates that about 6.5 additional compressor units (driven by CAT 3608 engines) or about 12,500 hp would be needed to gather CNX’s freeflow volumes at a conventional 350 psig. CNX’s integrated approach avoids the capital and operating expense of these units, as well as the lost revenue and GHG emissions associated with their fuel burn, approximately 57,000 tons annually of CO2e.
Alternative Energy Certificates
Coal mine methane (CMM) is typically released into the atmosphere. Policy makers have recognized the environmental value of CMM emissions mitigation by including it as a qualifying Tier 1 Resource in Pennsylvania Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) program. Using captured CMM for power generation and delivering the power into the PJM market creates Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Tier 1 alternative energy certificates (AECs). Throughout 2023, CNX captured approximately 15-18 Bcfe (8,000,000-9,500,000 MT CO2e) of CMM, which was primarily directed toward the AEPS program.
Electrification of the Drilling Rig
Following the successful transition to an electric frac fleet, CNX is in the final stages of electrifying our drilling operation. Natural gas generators, fueled by our field gas and coupled with an electric air package, will help eliminate diesel fuel from the drilling rig, reducing emissions and noise level in this phase of operations. This package can be applied to both top hole and horizontal rigs, and allows ancillary equipment to be added to the power distribution.