METHANE EMISSIONS IEA REPORT - ENVIRONMENT
News: International Energy Agency has released Global Methane tracker report 2023
Global Methane Tracker Report:
● Fossil fuel companies emitted 120 million metric tonnes of methane into the atmosphere in 2022.
● Contribution of energy sector: The report said 75 percent of methane emissions from the energy sector can be reduced with the help of cheap and readily available technology.
● In the oil and gas sector, emissions can be reduced by over 75 percent by implementing well-known measures
○ Leak detection
○ Repair programmes
○ Upgrading leaky equipment.
● The implementation of such measures would cost less than three percent of the net income received by the oil and gas industry in 2022.
● The energy sector accounts for around 40 percent of the total average methane emissions from human activity, as oil and natural gas companies are known to release methane into the atmosphere when natural gas is flared or vented.
● More than 260 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas (mostly composed of methane) is wasted through flaring.
● The right policies and implementation can bring 200 bcm of additional gas to markets.
● Reducing 75 percent of the wastage of natural gas could lower global temperature rise by nearly 0.1 degree Celsius by mid-century.
About Methane gas:
● Methane is a greenhouse gas, which is responsible for 30 percent of the warming since preindustrial times.
● Accounting for about 17 percent of the current global greenhouse gas emissions.
● Methane is the second-most common of the six major greenhouse gases.
● A report by the United Nations Environment Programme observed that over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.
Sources of Methane Gas:
● NASA notes that human sources (also referred to as anthropogenic sources) of methane are responsible for 60 percent of global methane emissions.
1. Human sources:
● Landfills
● Oil and natural gas systems
● Agricultural activities
● Coal mining
● Wastewater treatment
● Certain industrial processes
● Burning fossil fuel
● Ruminant digestive system.
2. Natural sources:
● Methane generating microbes.
● Wetlands
● The methane is held underground within the coal and is extracted by drilling into the coal seam and removing the groundwater.
● The resulting drop in pressure causes the methane to be released from the coal.
● More potential to trap the heat: While carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for much longer than methane, methane is roughly 25 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere, and has an important short-term influence on the rate of climate change.
Initiatives to tackle the Methane problem:
1. Global Methane Pledge:
● The pledge was first announced by the US and EU, and is essentially an agreement to reduce global methane emissions.
● One of the central aims of this agreement is to cut down methane emissions by up to 30 percent from 2020 levels by the year 2030.
● According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, methane accounts for about half of the 1.0 degrees Celsius net rise in global average temperature since the pre-industrial era.
2. Methane Alert and Response System:
● The UN has decided to set up a satellite-based monitoring system for tracking it and alerting governments and corporations to respond.
● It will integrate data from a large number of existing and future satellites that have the ability to detect methane emission events anywhere in the world, and send out notifications to the relevant stakeholders to act on it.
3. Global Methane Initiative:
● The Global Methane Initiative (GMI) is an international public-private partnership focused on reducing barriers to the recovery and use of methane as a valuable energy source.
● GMI provides technical support to deploy methane-to-energy projects around the world that enable Partner Countries to launch methane recovery and use projects.
● GMI focuses on three key sectors:
○ Oil and Gas
○ Biogas
○ Coal Mines
4. Policy Initiatives:
● New Zealand is also one of the first nations to come up with policy-related solutions to this problem.
● In October 2022, it proposed taxing the greenhouse gases that farm animals produce from burping and urinating.
5. Gene modifying technique:
● Scientists in New Zealand announced they had started the world’s first genetic programme to address the challenge of climate change by breeding sheep that emit lower amounts of methane.
Initiatives taken by Indian government:
1. National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC):
● It has a specific mission to reduce emissions from agriculture by promoting low-emission technologies and practices in agriculture, such as the use of organic fertilizers and better livestock management.
2. National Clean Energy Fund:
● It was set up by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to support research and development of clean energy technologies and projects.
3. Paris Agreement:
● India is a signatory to the agreement which aims to limit global warming to below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.
4. Harit dhara:
● Developed by Indian council of agricultural research.
● It is an anti-methanogenic feed supplement prepared from the natural phyto-sources.
● It is found very effective in reducing the enteric methane emission upto 17% to 20% when incorporated in the livestock feed.
5. In 2019, the Ministry of Coal has asked the state-run coal miner Coal India Limited (CIL) to produce 2 MMSCB (million metric standard cubic metres) per day of coalbed methane (CBM) gas in the next 2 to 3 years.
6. CBM, like shale gas, is extracted from what are known as unconventional gas reservoirs - where gas is extracted directly from the rock that is the source of the gas (shale in case of shale gas and coal in case of CBM).
7. Bharat Stage-VI Norms:
● India shifted from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms.
8. Seaweed based animal feed:
● Central Salt & Marine Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI) in collaboration with the country’s three leading institutes developed a seaweed-based animal feed additive formulation that aims to reduce methane emissions from cattle and also boost immunity of cattle and poultry.
About International Energy Agency:
● Established in 1974.
● Mission: Promote reliable, affordable, and clean energy for its member countries.
● Key reports:
○ World Energy Outlook (WEO)
○ Net Zero by 2050: a roadmap for the global energy sector
○ Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP)
○ Global EV Outlook (GEVO)
○ Oil Market Report
○ World Energy Investment
○ Clean Energy Transitions Programme.
WAY FORWARD:
● In the energy sector following systems should be promoted to reduce the methane gas emission such as
○ Leak detection
○ Repair programmes
○ Upgrading leaky equipment.
● Anti methanogenic feed supplement should be promoted vigorously in the livestock sector.
● Waste sector accounts for 20% of the total greenhouse gas production. This can be reduced by
○ Converting methane from landfills into energy.
○ Separating organics and recycling the wastes.