WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Loan Programs Office (LPO), announced today the closing of a $162.4 million loan guarantee to LongPath Technologies, Inc. (LongPath). The loan guarantee—supported by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—will help finance the construction and installation of more than 1,000 remote monitoring towers as part of a real-time methane emissions monitoring network. The network will include sites in every major U.S. oil and gas production region, including those in California, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming. LongPath’s Active Emissions Overwatch System project aims to deploy large-area remote methane monitors to provide emissions detection, location, and quantification services for tens of thousands of oil and gas sites. Today’s announcement underscores the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to dramatically reduce methane emissions, including from leaks in the oil and gas sector, in order to tackle the climate crisis, protect public health, and create good-paying jobs.
“Preventing harmful greenhouse emissions from entering our atmosphere is a key pillar of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ Investing in America agenda to improve public health while combatting climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Today’s announcement underscores the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued efforts to create environmentally resilient communities and ensure the United States leads the world in deploying next-generation clean energy solutions.”
“As governor, we made sure Colorado led the country with the first methane regulations of their kind,” said U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (CO). “We’re building on that leadership to create real-time methane emissions monitoring for the rest of the country thanks to these Inflation Reduction Act investments and our homegrown innovators like LongPath.”
LPO financing will support LongPath in the installation and deployment of up to 24,000 square miles of monitoring coverage. This expansive network is expected to prevent methane emissions equivalent to at least six million metric tons of CO2e annually—the equivalent of taking 1.3 million gasoline-powered vehicles off the road—by enabling subscribers to identify and respond to methane leaks quickly. The project is anticipated to create 35 construction jobs and 266 operations jobs with competitive benefits for regional workers, including trained experts to install and maintain the equipment. LongPath provides internship opportunities with the University of Colorado to engage students interested in technology-based climate solutions. LongPath sources many of its components from suppliers based in the United States, including in Florida and California, strengthening domestic supply chains for innovative technologies.
Last year, the Biden-Harris Administration took more than 100 actions under the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, including the deployment of $350 million in grants under the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, provided by the Inflation Reduction Act.
President Biden and Vice President Harris’ Investing in America agenda is accelerating adoption of cutting-edge technologies and tools to mitigate methane emissions and help the United States unlock a win-win opportunity for communities and the economy.
Emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas up to 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, occur across the oil and gas sector. Leaks during oil and gas production and compression, which are difficult to identify across vast production areas, are a major source of U.S. methane emissions. The longer leaks go undetected, the more planet-warming greenhouse gas enters the atmosphere. Today, monitoring is typically conducted via flyovers or using methods such as optical gas imaging (OGI) cameras, which can leave major gaps in emissions monitoring over time and space, respectively, leading to methane leaks going unnoticed for months or being missed altogether. This is particularly true because emissions are intermittent—only continuous monitoring can reliably detect these kinds of emission sources.
In contrast, LongPath’s technology continuously identifies, localizes, and quantifies methane emissions more rapidly and at lower detection levels than conventional methods, allowing operators to mitigate leaks earlier and more often. The LongPath Active Emissions Overwatch System could reduce greenhouse gas emissions leaks by approximately 90% compared to incumbent OGI technologies. The company is already monitoring hundreds of square miles of oil and gas infrastructure using 50-foot towers topped with lasers that can each monitor an area of nearly 8 square miles. In addition to filling an important gap in current monitoring capabilities, LongPath’s modular systems are low-cost and can be safely and quickly installed on-site using local expertise.
Today’s announcement advances the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. LPO works with all borrowers to create quality jobs with strong labor standards; support meaningful community and labor engagement; advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and contribute to the President’s Justice40 initiative through the development and execution of strong Community Benefits Plans. By supporting the monitoring and mitigation of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector in traditional energy communities—which often include low-income communities and communities of color—LongPath’s technology will directly reduce environmental exposures and burdens for disadvantaged communities impacted by oil and gas operations, improving public health and quality of life.
The technology, which was developed with the University of Colorado and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, and with support from DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) and other DOE grants, uses an eye-safe laser to accurately identify molecules in the air, including greenhouse gases like methane. A single laser can continuously monitor nearly 8 square miles for emissions, providing updates on the full area as often as every two hours. The system can notify operators in the event of a leak (down to .06 kilograms per hour) to facilitate a rapid response, reducing needless emissions.
The LongPath Active Emissions Overwatch System network will support emissions monitoring and methane leak reduction well beyond current capabilities, increasing efficiency and minimizing losses for subscribers. Some states, including Colorado and New Mexico, are early adopters of rigorous state-level monitoring requirements and have already approved use of LongPath’s technology. Monitoring technology is also one of many tools available to reduce emissions in line with EPA’s recent methane standards for oil and gas operations and the Methane Emissions Reduction Program.
This project is financed through LPO’sTitle 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, which was expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act and includes financing opportunities for innovative energy and supply chain projects and projects that reinvest in existing energy infrastructure. Across all LPO’s programs, DOE has attracted 211 applications for projects across the country totaling over $305 billion in requested loans and loan guarantees, as of September 2024. For more information about LongPath, read the conditional commitment blog post and visit LPO’s portfolio project page. Originally published at https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-162-million-loan-guarantee-longpath-technologies
