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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Cutting methane emissions is the quickest and best way to avoid climate change
8/6/2022
8 min read
In its latest report titled Mitigation of Climate Change, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that atmospheric carbon emissions must peak and then be rapidly reduced to avoid climate catastrophe. As the greatest and swiftest contribution the global energy sector can make today, reducing emissions of methane is vital. Professor Jeff Obbard, Visiting Professor, School of Water, Energy & Environment, Cranfield University, and Tony Regan, Lead, Gas & LNG Asia Pacific, NexantECA, report.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, governments worldwide agreed to limit global warming to less than 2°C with an aspirational target of 1.5°C using nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A rise of more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures is the gateway to dangerous levels of warming. In its report, the IPCC has stated that climate change is now widespread, rapid and intensifying, and the world has already warmed by 1.1°C since the mid-19th century.
NDCs are not on track to meet the Paris Agreement, where the current emission trajectory places the world on the road to a disastrous 3.2°C of warming by 2100. The 1.5°C target is likely to be breached by the early 2030s and this comes with an increased risk of more extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, heatwaves and wildfires.
GHG emissions are dominated by the release of CO2, but other gases also add to the warming. Methane (CH4) is second only to CO2 in driving global warming and accounts for 30–40% of observed global warming to date. Methane emissions come from human activities as well as natural ecosystems which are integral to the global climate system. Overall, nature accounts for around 40% of methane emissions, where agriculture, livestock and waste deposits account for another 30% (think rice-paddy farming, flatulating cattle and landfills).