Inefficient consumption of natural gas drives methane emissions from a megacity

Zhao, Yuwei; Hallward-Driemeier, Andrew; Schiferl, Luke D.; Maddaleno, Trey; Vermeuel, Michael P.; Millet, Dylan B.; Farmer, Delphine; Commane, Róisín

doi:10.5194/acp-26-12911-2026

Articles | Volume 26, issue 17

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-12911-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-12911-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 26, issue 17

Research article

|

14 Sep 2026

Research article |

| 14 Sep 2026

Inefficient consumption of natural gas drives methane emissions from a megacity

Yuwei Zhao, Andrew Hallward-Driemeier, Luke D. Schiferl, Trey Maddaleno, Michael P. Vermeuel, Dylan B. Millet, Delphine Farmer, and Róisín Commane

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-12911-2026-supplement

Data sets

Data from: Mineola tower-based methane enhancement (ΔCH4), ethane enhancement (ΔC2H6), and carbon monoxide enhancement (ΔCO) observations and simulated ΔCH4 Yuwei Zhao et al. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d7wm37qc7

Gridded EPA U.S. Anthropogenic Methane Greenhouse Gas Inventory (gridded GHGI) (Version v1.0) E. McDuffie et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8367082

Observations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and carbon monoxide (CO) mole fractions from the NIST Northeast Corridor urban testbed A. Karion et al. https://doi.org/10.18434/mds2-3765

Download

Article (3918 KB)
Full-text XML

Short summary

Reducing methane emissions offers a near-term climate mitigation opportunity. Cities contain large and often underestimated methane sources. In New York City, methane emissions peak during heating and cooling seasons, with natural gas as a dominant source. Emissions track gas consumption and show significant incomplete combustion signatures. We estimate a 1.7 % loss rate, ~300M USD/year in wasted gas, highlighting mechanisms of inefficient natural gas combustion as a future mitigation focus.