Methane, in the spotlight, after achieving the commitment to eliminate CO2
Methane, in the spotlight. After achieving the commitment to eliminate CO2, countries and industries are focusing on methane, mainly from the oil and gas sector, and another of the main causes of greenhouse gases.
40% of methane emissions from the fossil industry could have been avoided in 2023. Global methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry remained at record levels in 2023. “For no reason,” according to the Energy International Agency because solutions exist and are affordable, including leak repair. In this way, 40% of these emissions could have been avoided, at no net cost, he says.
If we often – and rightly – associate global warming with CO2 emissions, we must not also forget methane emissions. The second greenhouse gas related to human activity after carbon dioxide, its warming effect is however 28 times greater than that of CO2 over a 100-year horizon (and 80 times over 20 years).
However, it is a very common gas that exists naturally on Earth. 40% of methane – of the 580 million tons emitted each year – comes from natural sources, but the majority (around 60% of emissions) is attributable to human activities. Among them, energy production linked to leaks in oil wells, gas processing plants, oil pipelines and coal. These sectors “produced around 120 million tonnes of methane emissions in 2023, a slight increase compared to 2022”, estimates the International Energy Agency (IEA) in the 2024 version of its “Global Methane Tracker”. “Another ten million tons” come from “bioenergy,” such as firewood burned for cooking.
Act as a priority on leaks
What the IEA also denounces is that “there is no reason for these emissions to continue being so high,” according to Tim Gould, the institution’s chief economist. In 2023, “around 40% could have been avoided at no net cost,” with the value of the methane captured and marketed being greater than the costs to plug the leaks, the agency explains. Reducing emissions by 75% would cost “about $170 billion, or less than 5% of the fossil fuel industry’s revenue in 2023,” he adds.
One way to do this is to put an end to the frequent deliberate release of methane during planned maintenance of gas pipelines. And, above all, repair leaks in energy infrastructure. “Some countries, notably Norway, have shown that it is possible to extract and supply gas with minimal levels of leaks,” William Gillett, director of the energy program at the Scientific Council of the European Academies of Sciences (EASAC), said last November. According to him, “these good practices must be adopted more widely.”
Methane, in the spotlight because the truth is that large leaks “detected by satellite have increased by more than 50% compared to 2022”, which represents five million additional tons, indicated Christophe McGlade, energy expert at the IEA. One of them, massive, in Kazakhstan, lasted about 200 days. The IEA, however, is happy to have “an increasing number of next-generation satellites that monitor methane leaks, such as MethaneSAT”, successfully launched in early March by a SpaceX rocket and controlled from New Zeeland.
Methane, in the spotlight
Despite everything, the IEA remains optimistic. The important policies and regulations announced in recent months, as well as the new commitments made at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, may soon cause its decline,” writes the institution, which has become a key player in the energy transition.
During the last climate conference, 52 oil and gas companies committed to achieving “near-zero methane” in their operations by 2030. But without committing to their carbon footprint for the vast majority, this leads experts and NGOs to say that this is a very weak commitment. In addition, more than 150 countries have also joined the “Global METHANE Pledge” initiative, launched in 2021 by the European Union and the United States. Its goal is to reduce these emissions by 30% between 2020 and 2030. Among which are those of Azerbaijan, host of the next COP29, and Turkmenistan, which holds the world record for methane leaks according to the IEA.
Individual initiatives must also be taken into account. Like in November, when China presented a plan to control its methane emissions, without setting quantified reduction targets. Or the plan announced by the United States with the aim of reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. Oil and gas giants have also made their own commitments, for example with the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which aims to achieve zero emissions from their assets by 2030.
“If all these promises are fulfilled perfectly and on time, emissions would be reduced by approximately 50% between now and 2030,” according to Christophe McGlade. Only that these new commitments “have not yet been supported by detailed plans,” according to the analyst.
For Tim Gould, “2024 could mark a turning point,” because “policies are beginning to be implemented, greater transparency is established, awareness becomes widespread, and we have a better ability to detect major leaks” to stop them. So, methane is in the spotlight. Source: La Tribune, with AFP, El Periódico de la Energía.
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