Leak detection

When it comes to a pipe, no one wants a leak. For homeowners, it might be a water leak. For Piedmont Natural Gas, the leak can be something more worrisome: methane.

With almost 25,500 miles of distribution pipelines, the challenge to eliminate all leaks might seem overwhelming. But that’s the goal we have set for our company – zero methane leaks by 2030.

The good news is that significant progress has already been made. Since the beginning of 2022, we have reduced recordable leaks by 85 percent. Satellites, sensors and other innovative technologies have been used to detect leaks. We have also eliminated all cast iron and bare steel main piping, a major contributor to methane leakage.

Our leak reduction was improved by a company platform that provides real-time data collection, allowing response teams to rapidly identify and repair methane leaks. The platform is seen as one of the best in the industry.

This methane monitoring platform has been so successful, it’s attracting funding to allow others to do the same. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has selected the company for almost $1 million in funding to further test and expand its methane reduction efforts.

The project is taking place this year in North Carolina and leveraging academia, natural gas operations, digital cloud computing and data science to better deploy, measure and analyze methane emissions data.

It uses satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles to detect and quantify methane emissions on both local distribution and upstream natural gas assets. The result will be better measurement of methane emissions all through the natural gas value chain.

We are also working with upstream natural gas suppliers on their methane reduction efforts. Plus, offering customers the chance to purchase renewable natural gas and offering energy-efficiency programs that provide incentives to customers to install high-efficiency natural gas equipment.

Getting methane emissions down to zero: Is that an impossible challenge? With technology, investment and hard work, Piedmont Natural Gas is on the road to making it a reality.