The Energy and Environmental Research Center and Steffes Corporation have teamed up to develop a new method to capture trace amounts of natural gas that are still being flared at well sites in North Dakota.

They are being tight-lipped about how the new technology works, but began field deployment this week. Darren Schmidt, assistant director for energy, oil and gas at EERC, said the industry has done a good job capturing the "low hanging fruit," consistently achieving a 95% or better gas capture rate. But he said it's the small amount remaining that presents an economic challenge to the industry.

Click here to listen to Schmidt's comments.

Schmidt said Steffes and EERC have named the project "Polar Bear" because it's sustainable and eco-friendly. The equipment is designed to capture and compress small amounts of gas vapor in a way they believe will make economic sense for the operator.

Click here to listen to Schmidt's comments.

Schmidt said Steffes Corporation has long been engaged in the field of gas capture. It was the first producer of a variable-orifice flare that self-adjusts based on the amount of gas flowing through it. He said the company later developed other products to further improve the flaring process, and have now come up with one they hope will someday eliminate flaring altogether.

Click here to listen to Schmidt's comments.

Schmidt said he cannot reveal just exactly how the technology works, only that it amounts to a small-scale gas compressor.

"It's a competitive space," he said. "I can talk about how we solve the problem, but I'm going to stop short of telling you how it works."