EU: UNO and EU institutions resolve measures against methane emissions

 European press service writes:

At the core of the effort is a comprehensive measurement-based methane-reporting framework that will make it easier for officials, investors and the public to accurately track and compare performance across companies in ways that have not been possible to this point.

As stipulated in the EU methane strategy, the European Commission is planning to elaborate a legislative proposal on compulsory measurement, reporting, and verification for all energy-related methane emissions, building on the OGMP 2.0 framework.  Crucially, the OGMP 2.0 includes not only a company’s own operations, but also the many joint ventures responsible for a substantial share of their production. 

The OGMP 2.0 framework applies to the full oil and gas value chain, not only upstream production, but also midstream transportation and downstream processing and refining – areas with substantial emissions potential that are often left out of reporting today. The goal is to enable the oil and gas industry to realize deep reductions in methane emissions over the next decade in a way that is transparent to civil society and governments. In order to support the realisation of global climate targets, OGMP 2.0 aims to deliver a 45 %  reduction in the industry’s methane emissions by 2025, and a 60-75 % reduction by 2030.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/oil-and-gas-industry-commits-new-framework-monitor-report-and-reduce-methane-emissions-2020-nov-23_en

The underestimated role of methane in global warming

Studies show that methane has a higher impact on global warming than CO2:

"Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important, most cited and best known greenhouse gas. But in global warming, another greenhouse gas plays a considerable role, methane (CH4). If it stays in the atmosphere for much less time than C02, ten years against at least a century, its "warming power" is 28 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. About a quarter of human-caused climate change is believed to come from methane emissions. A study published in the past few days in both the Nature and Science journals shows that the importance of methane has been largely underestimated."

https://www.transitionsenergies.com/methane-rechauffement-sous-estime/ 

See also additional information concerning this topic in this article of MIT News. An MIT research team assessed the extent and the impact of natural gas, i.e. methane, leaks.

"Natural gas, which is mostly methane, is viewed as a significant “bridge fuel” to help the world move away from the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil fuels, since burning natural gas for electricity produces about half as much carbon dioxide as burning coal. But methane is itself a potent greenhouse gas, and it currently leaks from production wells, storage tanks, pipelines, and urban distribution pipes for natural gas. Increasing its usage, as a strategy for decarbonizing the electricity supply, will also increase the potential for such “fugitive” methane emissions, although there is great uncertainty about how much to expect. Recent studies have documented the difficulty in even measuring today’s emissions levels.

This uncertainty adds to the difficulty of assessing natural gas’ role as a bridge to a net-zero-carbon energy system, and in knowing when to transition away from it. But strategic choices must be made now about whether to invest in natural gas infrastructure. This inspired MIT researchers to quantify timelines for cleaning up natural gas infrastructure in the United States or accelerating a shift away from it, while recognizing the uncertainty about fugitive methane emissions.

The study shows that in order for natural gas to be a major component of the nation’s effort to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets over the coming decade, present methods of controlling methane leakage would have to improve by anywhere from 30 to 90 percent. Given current difficulties in monitoring methane, achieving those levels of reduction may be a challenge. Methane is a valuable commodity, and therefore companies producing, storing, and distributing it already have some incentive to minimize its losses. However, despite this, even intentional natural gas venting and flaring (emitting carbon dioxide) continues."

https://news.mit.edu/2019/role-natural-gas-transition-electricity-1216