Utilities are making progress in reducing leaks from their natural gas distribution networks, a new study has found, but the industry and regulators can do more.

Methane, a major component of natural gas, is a powerful greenhouse gas, having some 85 times the effect of carbon dioxide on climate change over a 20-year period. The Obama administration has promoted the use of natural gas as a power source, since it produces far less carbon dioxide than burning coal, but has also pressed for industry to measure and reduce leaks.

The new study from Washington State University, released on Tuesday, involved direct measurements at 13 gas distribution centers around the country, including 230 underground pipeline leaks and 229 metering and regulating facilities.

It is one of 16 studies performed with the participation of the Environmental Defense Fund to get an overall sense of the methane problem, from natural gas production sites to the broader distribution network. Jonathan Peress, the group’s air policy director for natural gas, noted that the amount of methane escaping each year from these local natural gas systems was comparable to the amount of carbon dioxide produced by 19 coal-fired power plants.