Report: Capturing Methane a Boost for Business in Illinois

(Undated) -- Some Illinois companies are boosting their bottom lines and helping the climate by capturing and controlling methane gas released during oil and gas production. An economic analysis released by the Environmental Defense Fund identifies hundreds of methane mitigation facilities nationwide, including more than a dozen in Illinois, that are saving $1-point-8 billion annually in wasted methane. E-D-F spokesman Mark Brownstein says there are clear benefits of curbing dangerous methane emissions. Brownstein says methane, when first released into the atmosphere, is a greenhouse gas far more powerful than carbon dioxide, and the U-S natural-gas system is its largest industrial source. There are 17 methane mitigation facilities in Illinois that either build, sell or service methane controls to prevent or minimize emissions or stop the gas from escaping.