Towards Cleaner Air in Stockton and beyond: Part 4- Short Lived Climate Pollutants

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Oil wells in California

In Spring 2022, civil and environmental engineering students from UC Berkeley worked with community organizations within the Stockton AB 617 area to identify local air pollution sources and design mitigation strategies. This 4-part blog series highlights the student projects and resources to share with the community. 


Part 4 focuses on short-lived climate pollutants in California. Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) include methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs used as refrigerants), and black carbon, all of which are being recognized as critical to the fight against climate change because of their large global warming potential (GWP) compared to carbon dioxide. Check out these StoryMaps: 


  • Refrigerant leaks: this report maps refrigerant leaks across California, and highlights the need for a widespread transition to low-GWP refrigerants.
  • Methane from oil and gas, and landfills: this report details the technical and political interventions needed to combat fugitive emissions from the oil and gas industry and waste sectors in California; leak detection and repair has the potential to reduce emissions due to leaks by 63%. If Grade 3 leaks were fixed within 1 year, it is estimated that methane emissions could decrease by 48%.
  • Methane from agriculture: this report presents strategies based on sustainable agriculture practices to reduce agricultural emissions which currently account for 50% of methane emissions in California.
A link to all 12 projects can be found here.

California map showing leaks of R404-A, a refrigerant that is 3,992 times more potent that CO2 as a greenhouse gas over 20 years.

If you missed it the other posts, read them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.