DESIGN OF SMART MICRO-FLARE FLEET TO MITIGATE DISTRIBUTED METHANE EMISSIONS

Methane emissions are responsible for 20% of greenhouse gas warming. A proven, economical
way of mitigating these emissions is to find high-flow methane sources and convert the methane
stream into carbon dioxide, using flares or generators, mitigating 96% of the warming effects.
We propose to develop a miniature methane flare, capable of handling emissions from sources in
the range of 10-200 tonnes CH 4 /yr / site. At minimum, a micro-flare consists of a combustion
chamber, pilot light or electronic ignition source, upstream flow and methane concentration
monitoring, controls electronics, and remote communications. The project aims to have low
capex and opex costs - necessary in order to allow developers to have good payback in the
current carbon markets and for the technology to scale. We estimate that cumulatively, a
micro-flare technology such as the one described could offset approximately 290 megatonnes of
CO 2 e per year worldwide (from active and abandoned coal mines, unsealed oil and gas wells,
natural geologic sources). This is about equivalent to removing 60 million cars from the road.