North Dakota’s nighttime sky lit by flared methane. 30 percent of all methane derived from oil drilling in the Bakken region is being flared to the sky because there are no pipelines. Currently it’s over 200 million cubic feet per day. Natural gas is mostly methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane is 25 times more powerful than CO2 over a 100-year period, and 100 times more powerful over a 20-year period. The World Bank estimates that in North Dakota alone, natural gas flares produce the same amount of global warming pollution as 2.5 million cars.
What clean, biodegradable fuel can be profitably produced from methane and power all types of engines? Only higher mixed alcohol fuel.
Ten Million People
