Closing Keynote Speaker: Francois Rongere, Sr Dr, Solution Architect Climate and Safety, Picarro // PGC Spring 2024

10.03.2024

Participants joined us for an empowering closing keynote delivered by Francois Rongere, Senior Director – Solution Architect Climate and Safety, Picarro. An expert in environmental science and technological solutions, Rongere tackled the urgent need for action, highlighting why “The Time Was Now” for corporations and organizations to step up their environmental accountability.

The convergence of new regulations, new protocols and the tools to implement them makes for a rapidly changing landscape and a set of opportunities gas distribution ought to capitalize on to simplify its business model and radically improve its risk profile.

In a world where reporting on emissions measurement has become more standardized and scrutinized, Rongere discussed how Picarro’s leading-edge tools and platforms, like e360 and the Super Emitter program, were not just facilitating this evolution but were catalyzing the vital transition from reporting to tangible reduction of environmental footprints.

This session was a fantastic conference close and captured how Picarro’s suite of advanced solutions seamlessly integrated into the emerging international standards for environmental reporting and beyond. With a natural fit into the market’s direction, Picarro is the innovation we need to navigate the energy transition landscape..

We Discussed: [transcript]

Key Takeaways:

  • International Standards: There is now an emerging international standard solution for reporting
  • Reporting -> Reducing: We know that reporting is just one step, reducing is the next step
  • The time is now

NOTES FROM THE CLOSING REMARKS

Three key ideas:

“The time is now” [1:05]

Three key recent developments come together to cause us to conclude that “The time is now”: 1. The regulations will be in place this year; 2. The methodologies are in place; 3. The tools are in place.

  1. Regulations: The regulatory environment has changed significantly both in Europe and in the US.
  2. In the US, PHMSA will publish its NPRM this summer.
  3. In Europe the European Commission has issued its new regulations.
  4. Methodologies: Robust methodologies have been put in place by Veritas and by OGMP 2.0 that spell out practical ways to implement the new regulations worldwide.
  5. Veritas has published methodologies: https://veritas.gti.energy that can be shared and used as a template.
  6. OGMP 2.0: https://ogmpartnership.com/guidance-documents-and-templates/
  7. Tools: We have developed the tools necessary to implement the methodologies and meet the regulatory requirements.
  8. We have released emissions 360
  9. We have released the dashboards

The data management is in place to generate and report on emissions in a consistent, reliable way that will satisfy the new regulations.

“The data must come first, the data must be collected yearly” [3:35]

The data must now be placed at the center of everything you do.

As we collect data we augment it with your GIS data to create a single source of truth from which we feed the analytics engines that will drive your programs:

  1. Emissions quantification of the entire infrastructure
  2. Emissions reduction : Measurement Informed Inventories away from Estimates
  3. Optimized Pipeline Replacement: Your DIMP model augmented by our Emissions data
  4. Risk Informed Compliance Survey: Your DIMP model augmented by our risk-informed emissions data

“We are at inflexion point” [4:35]

We are at an inflexion point for gas distribution utilities. The changing regulatory environment enables a move away from the siloed teams the old regulation has created.

It is important to not only follow but interpret and augment the new regulations to run the Gas Utility of the future. One that is integrated, data-driven and focused on emissions.

Utilities have been historically focused on: “when I see something I do something” pushing them to not see too much…

Going forward Utilities ought to:

  1. Collect data once a year and ultimately as frequently as possible.
  2. Act on the super emitters immediately. As soon as they are found. It is key to emissions reduction.
  3. Risk-informed leak management is a far superior solution. Risk-informed compliance survey will allow utilities to focus on what matters. Through much more frequent data gathering at scale the level of risk in the infrastructure will brought into balance.

Putting the data at the center. Collecting as much data as possible as frequently as possible will allow us to achieve as yet unthought of levels of improvements towards net-zero emissions, net zero odor calls and net zero risk.

The future of gas distribution is bright.

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