More on Air Quality Improvements

Advancing Environmental Quality on All Fronts
The health of the environment is vitally important to our quality of life: the air we breathe, the water we drink, the ground on which we live and grow food, as well as climatic and atmospheric conditions.  A critical piece of the work of the oil and natural gas industry is finding ways to provide the products that keep America going strong — without compromising the environment. 

The people who work in the oil and natural gas industry provide the fuels and products that support our economy. Oil and natural gas make factories and businesses run; they move goods, people, and information; directly and indirectly, they create millions of jobs. And through rigorous controls and technological innovations, the industry is taking better and better care of the environment as well.

Air quality has improved greatly in most parts of the country, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The soot, smoke, and smog that can result from combustion—the main energy source for vehicles, electricity generation, factories, lawnmowers, and barbecue grills—has been significantly reduced since the Clean Air Act of 1970. Over the last 30 years, aggregate air emissions from all sources, including power plants, manufacturing, residential uses, and transportation, have been cut 29 percent.

The oil and natural gas industry is a leader in the fight to clean up the air. Think of how many motor vehicles you see in a day—hundreds, even thousands of cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles—taking people and goods where they need to go. Americans are behind the wheel in record numbers:  70 million more drivers are on the road today than there were 30 years ago, driving 143% more miles.  But despite this enormous increase in drivers and miles, vehicle emissions are down 41 percent—due to cleaner fuels and more efficient engines. Gasoline improvements have helped bring about this sharp decline in auto emissions.  The phase-out of leaded gasoline, completed in the 1980s, cut lead emissions by 98 percent. Sulfur content in gasoline has been reduced to less than four percent, decreasing the amount of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the air, a major component of acid precipitation.  In 2004, a new car with reduced-sulfur fuel and the most advanced emissions-reduction equipment will produce only about three percent of the emissions of a 1960s-era automobile (API).

The success in creating cleaner-burning fuels is one of the most important factors in America’s steadily improving air quality. And the oil and natural gas industry is improving environmental performance in its own operations, including the wells, refineries, and storage and transportation facilities that keep our nation moving. Better equipment and training, innovative technologies, combined with advanced computer software technology, has significantly improved environmental performance.  Overall facility emissions have fallen 69 percent since 1970 (1970-1998); and storage and transport facility emissions have fallen 20 percent (1985-1998).
 
Reduction in Air Emissions in the U.S., 1970 to 1998, by Source: