Methane Emission Rates Research Articles

Relationship between paddy cultivation and methane emission rate (XCH4) in Haryana

Relationship between paddy cultivation and methane emission rate (XCH4) in Haryana

Tidal control on aerobic methane oxidation and mitigation of methane emissions from coastal mangrove sediments

Mangrove forests represent important sources of methane, partly thwarting their ecosystem function as an efficient atmospheric carbon dioxide sink. Many studies have focused on the spatial and temporal variability of methane emissions from mangrove ecosystems, yet little is known about the microbial and physical controls on the release of biogenic methane from tidally influenced mangrove sediments. Here, we show that aerobic methane oxidation is a key microbial process that effectively reduces methane emissions from mangrove sediments. We further demonstrate clear links between the tidal cycle and fluctuations in methane fluxes, with contrasting methane emission rates under different tidal amplitudes. Our data suggest that both the microbial methane oxidation activity and pressure-induced advective transport modulated methane fluxes in the mangrove sediments. Methane oxidation activity is limited by the availability of oxygen in the surface sediments, which in turn is controlled by tidal dynamics, further highlighting the interactive physico-biogeochemical controls on biological methane fluxes. Although we found some molecular evidence for anaerobic methanotrophs in the deeper sediments, anaerobic methane oxidation seems to play only a minor role in the mangrove sediments, with potential rates being two orders of magnitude lower than those of aerobic methane oxidation. Our findings confirmed the importance of surface sediments as biological barrier for methane. Specifically, when sediments were exposed to the air, methane consumption increased by ∼227%, and the methane flux was reduced by ∼62%, compared to inundated conditions. Our data demonstrate how tides can orchestrate the daily rhythm of methane consumption and production within mangrove sediments, thus explaining the temporal variability of methane emissions in the tidally influenced coastal mangrove systems.

Methanogenic Potential of Sewer Microbiomes and Its Implications for Methane Emission.

The sewer system, despite being a significant source of methane emissions, has often been overlooked in current greenhouse gas inventories due to the limited availability of quantitative data. Direct monitoring in sewers can be expensive or biased due to access limitations and internal heterogeneity of sewer networks. Fortunately, since methane is almost exclusively biogenic in sewers, we demonstrate in this study that the methanogenic potential can be estimated using known sewer microbiome data. By combining data mining techniques and bioinformatics databases, we developed the first data-driven method to analyze methanogenic potentials using a data set containing 633 observations of 53 variables obtained from literature mining. The methanogenic potential in the sewer sediment was around 250-870% higher than that in the wet biofilm on the pipe and sewage water. Additionally, k-means clustering and principal component analysis linked higher methane emission rates (9.72 ± 51.3 kgCO2eq m-3 d-1) with smaller pipe size, higher water level, and higher potentials of sulfate reduction in the wetted pipe biofilm. These findings exhibit the possibility of connecting microbiome data with biogenic greenhouse gases, further offering insights into new approaches for understanding greenhouse gas emissions from understudied sources.

High rates of hydrogen sulfide emissions measured from marginal oil wells near Austin and San Antonio, Texas

Marginal oil and gas wells, or wells that produce less than 15 barrels of oil equivalent per day, represent 80% of actively producing wells in the United States, although they produce less than 10% of energy supply. Marginal wells are a disproportionate source of methane (CH4) relative to their production, and they emit harmful air pollutants, such as benzene and other hydrocarbons found in oil and natural gas. We made direct measurements of CH4 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emissions from 46 wellheads in the Luling Field, Caldwell County, Texas, just east of the Austin/San Antonio Metroplex. We found that these wells are venting natural gas and are a large source of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a poisonous air pollutant. Hydrogen sulfide emission rates ranged from 0 to 5 ± 0.5 g H2S hr−1 with an average emission rate of 1.6 ± 0.1 g H2S hr−1. We also found ambient concentrations of H2S at dangerous levels (>100 ppm) near many of the wells. Methane emission rates were in line with previous studies of marginal wells, ranging from 0.0 to 2770 ± 390 g CH4 hr−1, with a skewed distribution and average emission rate of 710 ± 100 g CH4 hr−1. Oil production records from Texas were incomplete: some wells had oil production data from the year of sampling, but many had no production data for several years or decades, although they were actively pumping while we were on site. Interviews with local residents indicate that the closing of the county gas processing plant and subsequent loss of gathering lines may be the cause of gas venting and CH4 and H2S emissions from production sites. This deserves further scrutiny, as marginal wells in this region are a major source of H2S, a health hazard to people living and working nearby.

Solar‐Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence as a Potential Proxy for Gross Primary Production and Methane Emission in a Cool‐Temperate Bog in Northern Japan

AbstractWetlands play an essential role in the global greenhouse gas budget via carbon dioxide sequestration as well as methane emission. In recent decades, solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has been recognized as a remotely sensed proxy of gross primary productivity (GPP), which generates substrates for methane production. To examine the suitability of SIF for estimation of these two fluxes, we conducted ground tower‐based SIF observation with an ultrafine‐resolution spectroradiometer in conjunction with eddy covariance measurement in a cool‐temperate bog. The daily SIF retrieved in the red (687 nm) and far‐red (760 nm) bands (SIFred and SIFfar‐red, respectively) increased nonlinearly with GPP and linearly with absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR). The relatively weak correlation between apparent SIF yield (ΦSIF = SIF/APAR) and light use efficiency implied that both APAR and plant physiology constrained the SIF emission in this wetland. The SIFred/SIFfar‐red ratio showed a significant negative relationship with vegetation greenness indices, and the similar seasonal variation in SIFred and SIFfar‐red indicated that the SIFred reabsorption effect only weakly influenced the SIFred–GPP relationship. Episodic temporal reduction in the water table did not distinctly influence SIF and ΦSIF. Estimation of the methane emission rate was subtly improved by incorporating SIF, which was substituted for GPP as the methanogenesis substrate, in a multivariable regression analysis together with two environmental factors: soil temperature and water table depth. This study illustrates the potential of both SIFred and SIFfar‐red to monitor GPP and to predict methane emission in wetlands.

Phosphorus - A key element determining nitrous oxide emissions from boreal cultivated peat soil

Spatial variation in the emission rates of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) in soils can be significant due to the diverse biological, chemical, and physical conditions that influence the production and consumption of these gases. Drained organic soils are known to be hotspots for N2O emissions, and in wet conditions they can also emit CH4. We measured N2O and CH4 fluxes during the winter and growing season at 28 locations across a 7-ha area of drained organic agricultural soil in Eastern Finland. Our findings revealed expected high spatial and temporal variations in emission rates. The measured N2O emissions varied between −0.003 and 30.4 mg N2O m−2 h−1, averaging at 0.94 ± 3.00 mg N2O m−2 h−1 and CH4 emissions varied between −0.27 and 2.90 mg CH4 m−2 h−1, averaging at 0.10 ± 0.33 mg CH4 m−2 h−1. Phosphorus concentration was identified as a limiting factor and a critical determinant of spatial variations in N2O emissions, whereas CH4 emissions exhibited a decreasing trend with increasing sulphur and nitrate concentrations. Our study shows that N2O and CH4 fluxes are linked to other elemental cycles, making it critical to identify key nutrient-related processes that govern the spatial and temporal variability in emissions of these gases.

Global responses of wetland methane emissions to extreme temperature and precipitation

As global warming continues, events of extreme heat or heavy precipitation will become more frequent, while events of extreme cold will become less so. How wetlands around the globe will react to these extreme events is unclear yet critical, because they are among the greatest natural sources of methane(CH4). Here we use seven indices of extreme climate and the rate of methane emission from global wetlands(WME) during 2000–2019 simulated by 12 published models as input data. Our analyses suggest that extreme cold (particularly extreme low temperatures) inhibits WME, whereas extreme heat (particularly extreme high temperatures) accelerates WME. Our results also suggest that daily precipitation >10 mm accelerates WME, while much higher daily precipitation levels can slow WME. The correlation of extreme high temperature and precipitation with rate of WME became stronger during the study period, while the correlation between extreme low temperature and WME rate became weaker.

Satellite-Derived Estimate of City-Level Methane Emissions from Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Cities are important sources of anthropogenic methane emissions. Municipal governments can play a role in reducing those emissions to support climate change mitigation, but they need information on the emission rate to contextualize mitigation actions and track progress. Herein, we examine the application of satellite data from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) to estimate city-level methane emission rates in a case study of the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Due to low and variable annual observational coverage, we integrated valid TROPOMI observations over three years (2020–2022) and used mass balance modeling to derive a long-term mean estimate of the emission rate. The resulting column-mean dry-air mole fraction (XCH4) enhancement over Calgary was small (4.7 ppb), but within the city boundaries, we identified local hot spots in the vicinity of known emission sources (wastewater treatment facilities and landfills). The city-level emission estimate from mass balance was 215.4 ± 132.8 t CH4/d. This estimate is approximately four times larger than estimates from Canada’s gridded National Inventory Report of anthropogenic CH4 emissions and six times larger than the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR v8.0). We note that valid TROPOMI observations are more common in warmer months and occur during a narrow daily overpass time slot over Calgary. The limited valid observations in combination with the constrained temporal observational coverage may bias the emission estimate. Overall, the findings from this case study highlight an approach to derive a screening-level estimate of city-level methane emission rates using TROPOMI data in settings with low observational coverage.

Tartrate fermentation with H2 production by a new member of Sporomusaceae enriched from rice paddy soil.

In rice paddies, soil and plant-derived organic matter are degraded anaerobically to methane (CH4), a powerful greenhouse gas. The highest rate of methane emission occurs during the reproductive stage of the plant when mostly dicarboxylic acids are exudated by the roots. The emission of methane at this stage depends largely on the cooperative interaction between dicarboxylic acid-fermenting bacteria and methanogenic archaea in the rhizosphere. The fermentation of tartrate, one of the major acids exudated, has been scarcely explored in rice paddy soils. In this work, we characterized an anaerobic consortium from rice paddy soil composed of four bacterial strains, whose principal member (LT8) can ferment tartrate, producing H2 and acetate. Tartrate fermentation was accelerated by co-inoculation with a hydrogenotrophic methanogen. The assembled genome of LT8 possesses a Na+-dependent oxaloacetate decarboxylase and shows that this bacterium likely invests part of the H2 produced to reduce NAD(P)+ to assimilate C from tartrate. The phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene, the genome-based classification as well as the average amino acid identity (AAI) indicated that LT8 belongs to a new genus within the Sporomusaceae family. LT8 shares a few common features with its closest relatives, for which tartrate degradation has not been described. LT8 is limited to a few environments but is more common in rice paddy soils, where it might contribute to methane emissions from root exudates.IMPORTANCEThis is the first report of the metabolic characterization of a new anaerobic bacterium able to degrade tartrate, a compound frequently associated with plants, but rare as a microbial metabolite. Tartrate fermentation by this bacterium can be coupled to methanogenesis in the rice rhizosphere where tartrate is mainly produced at the reproductive stage of the plant, when the maximum methane rate emission occurs. The interaction between secondary fermentative bacteria, such as LT8, and methanogens could represent a fundamental step in exploring mitigation strategies for methane emissions from rice fields. Possible strategies could include controlling the activity of these secondary fermentative bacteria or selecting plants whose exudates are more difficult to ferment.

A low-methane rice with high-yield potential realized via optimized carbon partitioning

Global rice cultivation significantly contributes to anthropogenic methane emissions. The methane emissions are caused by methane-producing microorganisms (methanogenic archaea) that are favoured by the anoxic conditions of paddy soils and small carbon molecules released from rice roots. However, different rice cultivars are associated with differences in methane emission rates suggesting that there is a considerable natural variation in this trait. Starting from the hypothesis that sugar allocation within a plant is an important factor influencing both yields and methane emissions, the aim of this study was to produce high-yielding rice lines associated with low methane emissions. In this study, the offspring (here termed progeny lines) of crosses between a newly characterized low-methane rice variety, Heijing 5, and three high-yielding elite varieties, Xiushui, Huayu and Jiahua, were selected for combined low-methane and high-yield properties. Analyses of total organic carbon and carbohydrates showed that the progeny lines stored more carbon in above-ground tissues than the maternal elite varieties. Also, metabolomic analysis of rhizospheric soil surrounding the progeny lines showed reduced levels of glucose and other carbohydrates. The carbon allocation, from roots to shoots, was further supported by a transcriptome analysis using massively parallel sequencing of mRNAs that demonstrated elevated expression of the sugar transporters SUT-C and SWEET in the progeny lines as compared to the parental varieties. Furthermore, measurement of methane emissions from plants, grown in greenhouse as well as outdoor rice paddies, showed a reduction in methane emissions by approximately 70 % in the progeny lines compared to the maternal elite varieties. Taken together, we report here on three independent low-methane-emission rice lines with high yield potential. We also provide a first molecular characterisation of the progeny lines that can serve as a foundation for further studies of candidate genes involved in sugar allocation and reduced methane emissions from rice cultivation.

Changes in the stability of coal microstructure under the influence of weak electromagnetic fields

The article presents experimental results of research concerning the action of weak electric and magnetic fields on physicochemical transformations in samples of hard coal with a previously destabilized microstructure. The actions of electric and magnetic fields are fundamentally different by many parameters. It has been shown that after treatment with a weak electric field, coal posted an electret potential with an anomalously continuous charge relaxation. Compared to untreated coal samples, the rate of methane emission from methane-saturated samples is maximum for long-flame coal and decreases as it approaches anthracite. The electric field stimulates the grinding of microparticles, a decrease in the maximum gas outlet temperature, a decrease in the enthalpy value in the formation of a new phase, and an increase in the chemical activity of treated coal samples. Fundamentally different results were obtained with magnetic stimulation of coals. In X-ray diffractograms of coal powders after magnetic treatment, the values of the maxima of the main peaks are the largest in comparison with the original samples and those treated with an electric field, which is consistent with an increase in the size of microparticles in a magnetic field. There is an increase in the heat of combustion and a decrease (by 5 times) in the loss of coal mass during heating.

Methane emission rate estimates of offshore oil platforms in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Methane emission rate estimates of offshore oil platforms in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Assessment of methane emissions from pressure regulation stations in China

Pressure regulation stations are responsible for transporting natural gas downstream and are an indispensable part of the gas supply chain. In recent years, countries and enterprises have attached increasing importance to methane emission accounting. However, methane emissions from pressure regulation stations are still not comprehensively understood and accounted for. In this study, methane emissions from 21 pressure regulation stations under normal conditions were quantified using the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) “Other Test Method 33 A” (OTM 33 A) in three regions of China: the eastern, northern, and central regions of China. The results showed that the emission rate from pressure regulation stations generally lied in the order of 10−1-10−3 kg/h, whereas the measured methane emission rate (MMER) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 0.671 (0.066, 3.040) (kg/h), which was determined from the bootstrapping measurements from all pressure regulation stations. The MMER (95%CI) values were 0.051 (0.026, 0.102) for East China, 2.263 (0.095, 8.317) for North China, and 0.004 (0.003, 0.005) (kg/h) for Central China, showing a relatively obvious skewed distribution. Overall, MMER had a diminutive correlation with gas throughput and pipeline pressure. In contrast, the degree of correlation of pipeline pressure was higher than that of gas throughput.

Seasonal Change of Sediment Microbial Communities and Methane Emission in Young and Old Mangrove Forests in Xuan Thuy National Park.

Microbial communities in mangrove forests have recently been intensively investigated to explain the ecosystem function of mangroves. In this study, the soil microbial communities under young (<11 years-old) and old (>17 years-old) mangroves have been studied during dry and wet seasons. In addition, biogeochemical properties of sediments and methane emission from the two different mangrove ages were measured. The results showed that young and old mangrove soil microbial communities were significantly different on both seasons. Seasons seem to affect microbial communities more than the mangrove age does. Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi were two top abundant phyla showing >15%. Physio-chemical properties of sediment samples showed no significant difference between mangrove ages, seasons, nor depth levels, except for TOC showing significant difference between the two seasons. The methane emission rates from the mangroves varied depending on seasons and ages of the mangrove. However, this did not show significant correlation with the microbial community shifts, suggesting that abundance of methanogens was not the driving factor for mangrove soil microbial communities.

Characterization of atmospheric methane release in the outer Mackenzie River delta from biogenic and thermogenic sources

Abstract. The Mackenzie River delta is the second largest Arctic river delta in the world. Thin and destabilizing permafrost coupled with vast natural gas reserves at depth, high organic-content soils, and a high proportion of wetlands create a unique ecosystem conducive to high rates of methane (CH4) emission from biogenic and thermogenic sources. Hotspots are known to have a significant contribution to summertime CH4 emissions in the region. Still, little research has been done to determine how often geologic or biogenic CH4 contributes to hotspots in the Mackenzie River delta. In the present study, stable carbon isotope analysis was used to identify the source of CH4 at several aquatic and terrestrial sites thought to be hotspots of CH4 flux to the atmosphere. Walking transects and point samples of atmospheric CH4 and CO2 concentrations were measured. Source stable carbon isotope (δ13C-CH4) signatures were derived from keeling plots of point samples and ranged from −42 ‰ to −88 ‰ δ13C-CH4, identifying both biogenic and thermogenic sources. A CH4 source was determined for eight hotspots, two of which were thermogenic in origin (−42.5 ‰, −44.7 ‰), four of which were biogenic in origin (−71.9 ‰ to −88.3 ‰), and two of which may have been produced by the oxidation of biogenic CH4 (−53.0 ‰, −63.6 ‰), as evidenced by δ13C-CH4 signatures. This indicates that the largest hotspots of CH4 production in the Mackenzie River delta are caused by a variety of sources.

Methane Emissions from Non-producing Oil and Gas Wells and the Potential Role of Seismic Activity: A Case Study in Northeast British Columbia, Canada.

Increasing seismic activity due to fluid injections for oil and gas production may be contributing to leakage along non-producing oil and gas wells and emitting methane, a potent greenhouse gas. However, the extent to which nearby seismicity may drive or exacerbate methane emissions and cause well integrity issues is unknown. Therefore, we analyze field evaluations at 448 non-producing oil and gas wells in Northeast British Columbia (NEBC) and geospatially analyze oil and gas well and fluid injection data alongside locations of 3515 earthquakes from 2001 to 2021 and 130 faults. Through analysis of ground and helicopter-based field evaluations of non-producing wells in NEBC, we show that methane emission rates of non-producing wells average at 8301 mg/h/well but vary by 10 orders of magnitude. We find that higher methane emission rates (milligrams of methane/h/well) are observed at wells with larger flowing pressures at the wellhead during completion (kPa) and with shorter distances (m) to earthquakes, particularly at plugged wells. These results imply that seismicity may increase the likelihood of non-producing well integrity issues and methane leakage, thereby also exacerbating groundwater contamination and environmental degradation risks.

Methane point source quantification using MethaneAIR: a new airborne imaging spectrometer

Abstract. The MethaneSAT satellite instrument and its aircraft precursor, MethaneAIR, are imaging spectrometers designed to measure methane concentrations with wide spatial coverage, fine spatial resolution, and high precision compared to currently deployed remote sensing instruments. At 12 960 m cruise altitude above ground (13 850 m above sea level), MethaneAIR datasets have a 4.5 km swath gridded to 10 m × 10 m pixels with 17–20 ppb standard deviation on a flat scene. MethaneAIR was deployed in the summer of 2021 in the Permian Basin to test the accuracy of the retrieved methane concentrations and emission rates using the algorithms developed for MethaneSAT. We report here point source emissions obtained during a single-blind volume-controlled release experiment, using two methods. (1) The modified integrated mass enhancement (mIME) method estimates emission rates using the total mass enhancement of methane in an observed plume combined with winds obtained from Weather Research Forecast driven by High-Resolution Rapid Refresh meteorological data in Large Eddy Simulations mode (WRF-LES-HRRR). WRF-LES-HRRR simulates winds in stochastic eddy-scale (100–1000 m) variability, which is particularly important for low-wind conditions and informing the error budget. The mIME can estimate emission rates of plumes of any size that are detectable by MethaneAIR. (2) The divergence integral (DI) method applies Gauss's theorem to estimate the flux divergence fields through a series of closed surfaces enclosing the sources. The set of boxes grows from the upwind side of the plume through the core of each plume and downwind. No selection of inflow concentration, as used in the mIME, is required. The DI approach can efficiently determine fluxes from large sources and clusters of sources but cannot resolve small point emissions. These methods account for the effects of eddy-scale variation in different ways: the DI averages across many eddies, whereas the mIME re-samples many eddies from the LES simulation. The DI directly uses HRRR winds, while mIME uses WRF-LES-HRRR wind products. Emissions estimates from both the mIME and DI methods agreed closely with the single-blind volume-controlled experiments (N = 21). The York regression between the estimated emissions and the released emissions has a slope of 0.96 [0.84, 1.08], R = 0.83 and N = 21, with 30 % mean percentage error for the whole dataset, which indicates that MethaneAIR can quantify point sources emitting more than 200 kg h−1 for the mIME and 500 kg h−1 for the DI method. The two methods also agreed on methane emission estimates from various uncontrolled sources in the Permian Basin. The experiment thus demonstrates the powerful potential of the MethaneAIR instrument and suggests that the quantification method should be transferable to MethaneSAT if it meets the design specifications.

Methane Emissions from Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada: The Role of Surface Casing Vent Flows.

Abandoned oil and gas wells can act as leakage pathways for methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and other fluids to migrate through the subsurface and to the atmosphere. National estimates of methane emissions remain highly uncertain, and available measurements do not provide details on whether the emissions are associated with well integrity failure (indicating subsurface leaks) or aboveground well infrastructure leaks. Therefore, we directly measured methane emission rates from 238 unplugged and plugged abandoned wells across Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, separately quantified emissions from surface casing vents and other emissions from the wellhead (non-surface casing vent), and developed emission factors to estimate Canada-wide emissions from abandoned wells. Our highest measured emission rate (5.2 × 106 mg CH4/hr) from an unplugged gas well was two to three times higher than the largest previously published emission rate from an abandoned well. We estimated methane emissions from abandoned wells in Canada to be 85-93 kilotonnes of methane per year, of which surface casing vent emissions represented 75-82% (70 kilotonnes of methane per year). We found that subsurface leaks, as evidenced by surface casing vent flows, occurred at 32% of abandoned wells in Alberta, substantially higher than previously estimated using provincial data alone (6 and 11%). Therefore, well integrity failures and groundwater contamination are likely to be more common than previous studies suggest.

Responses of greenhouse gas emissions to aeration coupled with functional membrane during industrial-scale composting of dairy manure: Insights into bacterial community composition and function

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from manure management processes deserve more attention. Using three industrial-scale experiments, this study comprehensively evaluated the effects of different aeration coupled with semi-permeable membrane-covered strategies on the structure and function of bacterial communities and their impact on GHG emissions during dairy manure aerobic composting. The succession of the bacterial communities tended to be consistent for similar aeration strategies. Ruminiclostridium and norank_f__MBA03 were significantly positively correlated with the methane emission rate, and forced aeration coupled with semi-permeable membrane-covered decreased GHG emissions by inhibiting these taxa. Metabolism was the most active function of the bacterial communities, and its relative abundance accounted for 75.69%–80.23%. The combined process also enhanced carbohydrate metabolism and amino acid metabolism. Therefore, forced aeration coupled with semi-permeable membrane-covered represented a novel strategy for reducing global warming potential by regulating the structure and function of the bacterial communities during aerobic composting of dairy manure.

129 The Relationship Between Pulmonary Arterial Pressure Expected Progeny Differences and Methane Emissions

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) expected progeny differences (EPD) and methane emissions. Pulmonary arterial pressure is an indicator of pulmonary arterial hypertension in cattle and is especially relevant at high altitudes, with increasing importance in moderate elevation feedlot and finishing systems. Enteric methane emissions from cattle are increasingly emphasized due to their contribution of greenhouse gases in the agricultural sector. As pulmonary arterial hypertension continues to be an issue in high altitudes and feedlots, understanding relationships with methane emission rates will be useful for both concomitant selection with the goal of improving environmental sustainability. The PAP EPD data were collected on 123 total heifers (n = 37) and steers (n = 86) located on a ranch in southern Wyoming at an elevation of 2,194.56 meters. Gas emissions were collected using a GreenFeed system (C-Lock, Rapid City, South Dakota), which measures the gas fluxes of individual animals at the CSU ARDEC facility at an elevation of 1,557.53 meters. Individual animal methane emissions were measured as grams/day. A generalized linear regression model was used to regress average daily methane emissions (mean = 163.08, SD = 38.74, min = 87.72, max = 247.03) on PAP EPD (mean = -0.464, SD = 1.565, min = -6.382, max = 4.286), pen, and age in days (mean = 258.2, SD = 20.009, min = 200, max = 298). The PAP EPD (P = 0.484) did not account for a significant amount of variation in methane emissions. Additionally, the effect of pen (P &amp;lt; 0.05) and age (P &amp;lt; 0.05) were significant sources of variation for methane production. The effects of pen had a range of 60.916 units of methane emission/day (P &amp;lt; 0.05). Age of the individual was evaluated as a linear covariate and had a solution of 0.678 units of methane emission/day (P &amp;lt; 0.05), suggesting that older individuals had increased methane emissions. These results show no statistical relationship between PAP EPD and methane in these data. While preliminary results suggest that selection for low PAP EPD individuals will have no adverse effects on sustainability metrics, future research is needed to fully understand the relationship between beef cattle production traits and sustainability metrics.