Greenhouse gas emissions of transportation fuels from shale gas-derived natural gas liquids

Production of natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the United States is expanding rapidly and production now exceeds domestic demand. An emerging use of NGLs is the production of transportation fuels, however, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of these fuels may limit their access to some markets affected by policies that consider these emissions. This work estimates well-to-tank GHG emissions of NGL-based transportation fuels and compares these estimates to GHG emissions from conventional gasoline production. The emission estimates, and their magnitude relative to well-to-tank GHG emissions for conventional petroleum fuels, are highly sensitive to NGL fuel production scenarios, co-product treatment methods, and feedstock source.