EnLink is focused on continuously improving our efficiency and driving innovation. We continue to promote a culture of emissions management and implement technologies, best practices, and execute projects that reduce emissions. We have set both short and long-term, sustainable goals to reduce our carbon footprint and minimize our impact on climate change, thereby furthering our role in the energy transition.
Energy Use and Emissions
EnLink's focus on reducing carbon emissions includes reducing methane emissions from our operations. EnLink utilizes best practices to reduce emissions, such as using optical gas imaging for leak detection and repair. We’ve continued to improve our emissions performance and operational efficiency by replacing flares with thermal oxidizers at many of our plants and installing vapor recovery units and exhaust catalysts.
We closely monitor our energy consumption and evaluate ways to optimize our usage to maximize our sustainability impact. We employ processes that allow us to repurpose exhaust heat, a byproduct of operations, for warming purposes required elsewhere in our process.
We utilize solar capabilities to power our methanol pumps, meter stations, and line operating data gathering stations, while LED lighting is now standard at our operating facilities and on new construction, further reducing our company’s need for additional power and limiting our environmental impact.
Long-Term Emissions Reduction Targets
EnLink is partnering our industry know-how with our continuous innovation to evolve how we operate to become a more sustainable, leading midstream company. We believe that we all can play a role in minimizing our impact on climate change, and midstream companies in particular are vital to the energy transition to a lower carbon world.
In 2021, we announced our commitment to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We are pursuing significant emissions reductions strategies that will position us to achieve this goal. Along the way, we will strive to achieve emissions reduction milestones, including:
- Achieving a 30% reduction in scope 1 methane emissions intensity by 2024 as compared to 2020 levels; this is a high-impact step, as methane has a global warming potential 25 times that of carbon dioxide (CO₂)¹
- Pursuing a path to reach a 30% reduction in our total scope 1 carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions intensity by 2030 as compared to 2020 levels
EnLink is evaluating numerous emissions reduction innovations, process improvements, and opportunities to help accomplish these goals, including:
- Replacing or retrofitting natural gas-driven pneumatic devices to lower-emitting or zero-emitting alternatives
- Increasing usage of renewable energy to power our operations
- Converting natural gas-driven equipment to run on electricity
- Implementing carbon capture technologies for beneficial reuses or sequestration of carbon dioxide
- Utilizing voluntary optical gas imaging monitoring programs
- Installing emission control equipment to reduce and minimize emissions
- Modification of operational processes to recover and recycle natural gas to minimize methane and flaring volumes
Accomplishing Emissions Reduction Goals with Minimal Capital
EnLink set a goal to reduce methane emissions intensity by 30% by 2024. Through the first quarter of 2022, EnLink accomplished approximately 40% of that goal with a capital investment of less than $800,000 through cost-effective measures like replacing high-bleed equipment with low or no-bleed equipment. EnLink is continuing to work toward its goal of a 30% reduction and believes it can achieve this goal by 2024 with an additional capital investment estimated to be less than $2.2 million.
EnLink is continuing to work on projects and plans to achieve its longer-term emission reduction goals, such as the 15-year agreement with Continental Carbonic Products to capture CO₂ emitted from our Bridgeport plant in North Texas and sell for use in food-grade products that was announced in November 2021. This project is expected to be in service in early 2024 and makes meaningful progress toward our goal of a 30% reduction in total CO₂e emissions intensity by 2030, while being modestly profitable. EnLink will continue to focus on cost-effective ways to achieve its environmental goals.
EnLink was awarded grant funding of $4.42 million by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for compression engine emission reduction projects in our North Texas operating area. The funding will assist EnLink in replacing 13 engines at six locations with lower emission units, which we anticipate will decrease the regulated pollutant emissions and greenhouse gas emissions by over 7,000 MT of CO₂e.
Supporting Climate Change Research
EnLink is supporting climate change research as the sole midstream participant in the University of Oklahoma’s “XGEM” project. XGEM is a multifaceted research and engineering project focused on developing the world’s most advanced greenhouse gas sensor. Once fully tested and calibrated, the sensor will be launched into space and provide satellite monitoring of greenhouse gas sources around the globe. EnLink joined the project in late 2021 and looks forward to being a part of this critical research.
Environmental Industry Organization Participation
EnLink announced its participation in The Environmental Partnership in March 2021. We are proud to continue our participation in 2022. 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 joining The Environmental Partnership, we are demonstrating our commitment to further implement practices that reduce methane emissions and are participating in a forum of industry leaders committed to improving the environmental performance of our industry.
- Overview of Greenhouse Gases: Methane Emissions; from the United States Environmental Protection Agency: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases
More in the "Responsible Operations" section:
- Responsible Operations Overview
- Environmental Performance & Stewardship
- GoalZERO Safety
- Emergency Preparedness
- Asset Integrity Management
Other sections:
The information and data (collectively, Information) provided in EnLink’s 2021 Sustainability Report (Report) reflects content as of and for the period ending December 31, 2021, 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 May 3, 2022, and EnLink has 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. Unless otherwise provided, EnLink is not expressly 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 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 of the disclosures required under U.S. federal securities laws, which have distinct and specific concepts of materiality.