The United States is unique in the energy reserves held in shale gas fields, which coproduce natural gas and natural gas liquids. Use of this resource, however, contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and, correspondingly, climate change. We explore how natural gas and natural gas liquids might build bridges toward low-carbon transportation fuels. For example, as petroleum refineries produce less gasoline in response to widespread electrification, natural gas liquids can be converted to fuel. We consider whether the greenhouse gas emissions from production and use of these fuels might be offset through three potential outcomes of converting coproduced natural gas to CO₂ through steam methane reforming. First, the CO₂ could be injected into conventional oil formations for enhanced oil recovery. Second, it could be sequestered into saline aquifers to avoid CO₂ emissions from the produced oil combustion. Third, it could be injected into unconventional gas formations in the form of CO₂-based fracturing fluids. Simultaneously, the coproduced hydrogen from steam methane reforming could be used to support the expansion of the hydrogen economy. The region of study is the Permian Basin. The results show sizeable emission benefits by decreasing net emissions of natural gas production and use to 28 from 88 g-CO₂e/MJ. For revenue generating pathways, a partial decarbonization of 3.4 TCF/year is possible. All of the natural gas can be partially decarbonized if the CO₂ is sequestered in saline aquifers. Overall, the results show that while greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced through decarbonization approaches relying on subsurface sequestration, full natural gas decarbonization is not achieved but must be pursued through other approaches.

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二叠纪盆地页岩气脱碳：有可能吗？

美国在页岩气田的能源储备方面是独一无二的，页岩气田联产天然气和天然气液体。然而，使用这种资源会导致温室气体排放，并相应地导致气候变化。我们探索天然气和天然气液体如何为低碳运输燃料搭建桥梁。例如，随着石油精炼厂生产的汽油因广泛的电气化而减少，天然气液体可以转化为燃料。我们考虑是否可以通过通过蒸汽甲烷重整将联产天然气转化为 CO _{2的三个潜在结果来抵消这些燃料的生产和使用产生的温室气体排放。}一、CO ₂可注入常规油层以提高采收率。其次，它可以被隔离到含盐含水层中，以避免产生的油燃烧产生的 CO ₂排放。_{第三，它可以以CO 2}基压裂液的形式注入非常规气层。同时，蒸汽甲烷重整产生的副产氢气可用于支持氢气经济的扩张。研究区域是二叠纪盆地。结果表明，通过将天然气生产和使用的净排放量从 88 g-CO ₂ e/MJ 减少到 28，可以产生相当大的排放效益。对于创收途径，每年 3.4 TCF 的部分脱碳是可能的。_{如果 CO 2}可以使所有天然气部分脱碳被隔离在含盐含水层中。总体而言，结果表明，虽然可以通过依赖地下封存的脱碳方法减少温室气体排放，但不能实现完全的天然气脱碳，必须通过其他方法进行。