EnLink continues to combine industry know-how with continuous innovation processes to improve our overall sustainability and reduce emissions. We’re focused on the safety, reliability, and efficiency of our operations, including when it comes to energy use and emissions.
We utilize industry best practices to reduce emissions intensity, such as using optical gas imaging for leak detection and using air-driven pneumatic devices (rather than natural-gas-dependent pneumatic devices) in our facilities.
We’ve continued to improve our emissions performance and operational efficiency at many facilities by utilizing low-emission engines and engines with advanced digital engine management, employing methane capture technology, and exhaust catalysts; installing vapor recovery units; and applying closed loop emissions control on our triethylene glycol dehydration units.
We closely monitor our energy consumption and evaluate ways to optimize our usage.
We employ processes that allow us to repurpose waste heat, a byproduct of operations, for heating purposes required elsewhere in our process. We utilize solar capabilities to power many of our methanol pumps, meter stations, and line operating data gathering stations at many facilities. LED lighting is now standard at our operating facilities and on new construction, further reducing our company’s need for additional power.
Emissions Reduction Milestones
In late 2023, we met our scope 1 methane emissions intensity reduction target of 30% from our 2020 baseline, one year ahead of target. This was achieved by leveraging our team’s ingenuity, commitment to our company vision, and focus on execution. We continue to take steps to evaluate and reduce our environmental impact while providing midstream services vital to our customers.
Our cross-functional Emissions Reduction Team (ERT) developed the plans that enabled us to reach our scope 1 methane emissions intensity reduction target and continues to identify projects and evaluate emerging technology to further reduce our methane and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. This team includes representatives from our Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS); Engineering; Operations; Operational Excellence; Investor Relations; and Corporate Communications teams, as well as members of our Executive Leadership Team.
We reached our methane intensity goal through the following emissions reduction projects:
- Commenced operations on a carbon capture project with BKV Corp. at EnLink’s Bridgeport Plant in North Texas, which is expected to achieve an average sequestration rate of up to 210,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, putting EnLink and BKV among the first energy companies in the nation to have commercial carbon capture and sequestration operations.
- Utilized grant funding awarded to EnLink by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in 2021 for compression engine emissions reduction projects in our North Texas operating area. The funding assisted EnLink in replacing nine engines at four locations with lower emissions units.
- Installed a flash gas recycling compressor at EnLink’s Plaquemine NGL Fractionator.
- Converted 30 compressor stations to utilize non-methane-emitting pneumatic devices and removed over 300 high-bleed pneumatic devices since 2021.
- Installed 31 natural gas compressors since 2021 with technology that reduces raw methane emissions during operation.
Additionally, the following efforts are ongoing and continue to further reduce our emissions:
- Utilizing voluntary optical gas imaging monitoring technologies to reduce leaks and unplanned emissions events within our facilities.
- Installing control equipment, such as vapor recovery units, to reduce emissions. Vapor recovery units capture emissions from storage tanks for reuse, preventing the emissions from reaching the atmosphere.
- Modifying operational processes to recover and recycle natural gas to minimize methane and flaring volumes.
Ongoing Emissions Reduction Commitment
While we are pleased to have achieved our 2024 scope 1 methane emissions intensity target ahead of schedule, our commitment to emissions reduction doesn’t stop there.
Our ongoing emissions reduction strategy is focused on three things:
- Continuing to reduce our methane emissions intensity through continuous operational improvements and technologies that are both economical and help us operate more efficiently;
- Reducing our CO₂e emissions intensity through operational efficiencies and the use of existing technologies, like carbon capture which we have already implemented at our Bridgeport Processing Plant, and through emerging technologies that may in the future allow us to further decarbonize our operations in an economically responsible manner; and
- Helping other energy companies and industries to decarbonize their operations through our Carbon Solutions business, which utilizes midstream infrastructure to move CO₂ from third parties’ industrial facilities to permanent sequestration sites. While not reducing EnLink’s own emissions, this effort has the potential to make a much bigger impact by reducing emissions across industrial areas along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.¹
Supporting Emissions Detection Research
EnLink is participating in a University of Oklahoma research project aimed at developing new technologies for the prediction, sensing, monitoring, and reduction of methane emissions. Funded by the Department of Energy, the project’s goal is to develop a carbon accounting platform for real-time methane emissions leak detection and response. EnLink joined the project in late 2021 as the sole midstream participant. Field work began in Oklahoma’s Anadarko Basin in 2024.
Environmental Industry Organization Participation
EnLink continued its participation in The Environmental Partnership, which we joined in 2021. The Environmental Partnership is a collaboration of oil and natural gas companies that are focused on addressing our industry’s environmental impacts and implementing emissions reduction solutions. By participating in The Environmental Partnership, we are demonstrating our commitment to implementing practices that reduce methane emissions and are participating in a forum of industry leaders committed to improving the environmental performance of our industry.
- According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program 2021, Louisiana is the second largest industrial CO2 emitting state in the United States with approximately 135 metric tonnes per year.
More in the "Responsible Operations" section:
- Responsible Operations Overview
- Carbon Solutions
- Environmental Performance and Stewardship
- GoalZERO Safety
- Emergency Preparedness
- Asset Integrity Management
- Operational Excellence
Other sections:
The information and data (collectively, “Information”) provided in EnLink’s 2023 Sustainability Report (“Report”) reflects content as of and for the period ending December 31, 2023, unless otherwise indicated. Such Information in this Report is for informational purposes only. EnLink does not make, and hereby expressly disclaims, any representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the Information contained herein. This Report is being published on August 6, 2024, and EnLink undertakes no obligation or duty to (1) update or correct the Information, (2) provide additional details regarding the Information, or (3) continue to provide the Information, in any form, in the future. EnLink reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, update, change, delete, or supplement the Information from time to time without notice. The Information should not be interpreted as any form of guaranty or assurance of future results or trends. EnLink is expressly not incorporating by reference any of the Information into any filing of EnLink made with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or in any other filing, report, application, or statement made by EnLink to any federal, state, or local governmental authority. This Report contains information based upon EnLink’s role in the broader economy, environment, and society and is presented for the purpose of responding to issues that are important to a wide range of interested parties. While events, scenarios, and efforts discussed in this report may be significant, any significance should not be read as necessarily rising to the level of materiality pertaining to disclosures required under U.S. federal securities laws, which have distinct and specific concepts of materiality.