UN environment program: What you need to know about methane

🌎 Methane (CH4), the primary component of natural gas, is responsible for approximately a third of the warming we are experiencing today. (IPCC)

🌍 Methane is a powerful and short-lived greenhouse gas, with a lifetime of about a decade and Global Warming Potential about 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide (CO2) during the 20 years after it is released into the atmosphere. (IPCC)

🌏 Without action global anthropogenic methane emissions are projected to rise by up to 13% between 2020 and 2030. Global methane emissions must be reduced by 30-60% below 2020 levels by 2030 to be consistent with least-cost pathways of limiting global warming to 1.5°C this century (CCAC). · Methane also harms human and ecosystem health. Methane emissions lead to ground-level ozone pollution which causes approximately a million premature deaths per year globally and reduces crop productivity and harms ecosystems.. (UNEP&WMO)

🌎 Decarbonizing our economies and transitioning out of fossil fuels to achieve net zero by 2050 must go hand in hand with full implementation of targeted methane abatement by 2030 to keep our 1.5 °C target within reach. All least cost pathways consistent with 1.5 °C require full implementation of methane targeted measures by 2030 to cut emissions by 30-60% below 2020 levels by 2030.

🌍 Proven technologies and practices could reduce emissions from the major sectors, i.e. fossil fuel, waste and agriculture, by approximately 180 million tonnes a year, or as much as 45% by 2030. Most of these technical solutions can be implemented at negative or low cost, especially in the fossil fuel and waste sectors.

🌏 Methane is increasingly a global climate priority, with ambition for addressing emissions building among both governments and companies. (UNEP)

🌎 The majority of human-driven methane emissions come from three main sectors: approximately 40% from agriculture, 35% from fossil fuels an another 20% from solid waste and wastewater (CCAC)

🌍 The fossil fuel sector has the greatest share of ready-to-implement and cost effective technical opportunities to reduce methane emissions in this decade. Investments needed in operational changes in the oil and gas sector are equivalent to less than 2% of income generated by oil and gas companies in 2022.

Source: UN environment program

UN environment program: Why Is Methane Mitigation in the Fossil Fuel Sector Critical For Reaching 1.5 Target?

⛽ The fossil fuel sector accounts for about 35% of anthropogenic methane emissions. To be consistent with IPCC 1.5 °C scenarios, methane emissions from the sector should be reduced by approximately 60% below 2020 levels by 2030 and nearly 80% by 2050. (UNEP/CCAC)

⛽ The fossil fuel sector has the greatest share of ready-to-implement and cost-effective technical opportunities to reduce methane emissions. (IEA/UNEP/CCAC)

⛽ Tried and tested approaches exist. 80% of oil and gas methane abatement measures and up to 98% of coal measures could be implemented at a negative or low cost. Total spending required to deploy all available methane mitigation strategies in the oil and gas sector through 2030 is less than 2% of the net income earned by this industry in 2022 (IEA/UNEP/CCAC).

⛽ Immediate, targeted methane abatement in the fossil fuel sector can prevent nearly 1 million premature deaths due to ozone exposure, 90 million tonnes of crop losses due to ozone and climate changes, and about 85 billion hours of lost labour due to heat exposure by 2050, providing roughly USD 260 billion in direct economic benefits. (IEA/UNEP/CCAC).

⛽ Methane mitigation is an economic and environmental win-win. As natural gas is composed mostly of methane, emissions of methane from the oil and gas value chain represent a wasted product that translates into roughly $34 billion of lost revenue per year, at average 2017 delivered prices. (UNEP)

⛽ Without a dual strategy of reducing methane and deep decarbonisation we will not be able to meet the Paris Agreement objective. Reduction in oil and gas demand will lead to a reduction in methane emissions—but will not reduce methane fast enough to limit warming to 1.5 °C without additional, immediate actions to abate methane emissions from fossil fuel production. We cannot wait to deploy this essential climate and health solution.

⛽ Appropriate regulatory frameworks are needed, as well as credible data, and a dramatic ramp-up in investment to mitigate methane emissions from fossil fuel production.

⛽ Measures can and should be financed by the industry itself, but a number of low- and middle-income countries may face barriers to accessing capital for some interventions, which may not be implemented without external support.

Source: UN environment program

1909 - Oil production in the United States surpassed that of the rest of the world combined.

1911 - US Supreme Court ordered the Standard Oil Trust to break apart.  The monopoly would become thirty-four separate companies.

1989 - Exxon Valdez oil spill

1990 - Gulf War

1997 - Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) proliferates after the Mitchell Energy Company perfects the technique making it economically feasible.

The 2000s - Oil prices spike.  With prices for oil generally staying below $25 a barrel, prices hit $30 in 2003.  The price of oil continues to climb above $65 in 2005 and eventually hits a high of $147.30 in 2008.

2008 - Global Financial Crisis - Just as oil prices are topping out at $147 a barrel, the global financial crisis sends economic demand into rapid decline.

2010 - BP Horizon oil spill

2015 - Oil Glut.  The effectiveness and explosion of oil production in the US due to advancements in hydraulic fracturing leads to a global glut in oil supplies.  The US lifts oil export ban that has been in place to strategically protect domestic oil reserves.

Source: EKT Interactive