Emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane remain “far too high” according to a report released Wednesday by the International Energy Agency (IEA), even though technology exists to control many methane sources.
The IEA Global Methane Tracker found that the record-high production of fossil fuels and “limited mitigation efforts” by industry resulted in 120 million tons of methane escaping from the energy sector each year.
Methane is the main component of natural gas, and oil and gas extraction and coal mining contribute about one-third of the global methane emissions from human activity. Other major sources include agriculture, land use change and emissions from landfills.
According to the report, existing technology could prevent roughly 70 percent of annual methane emissions from the energy sector by preventing leaks from drilling and transmission and reduce flaring, the intentional burning of excess gas. Many of those technologies would pay for themselves within a year, the IEA said, by capturing gas that can then be sold instead of going into the atmosphere.
“Tackling methane leaks and flaring offers a double dividend: it alleviates pressure on tight gas markets in many parts of the world, enhancing energy security—and lowers emissions at the same time,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement. “However, the latest data indicates that implementation on methane has continued to fall short of ambitions.”
Methane does not persist as long as the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. But while it is in the atmosphere, methane is many times more potent as a heat-trapping gas, and scientists say it is contributing to much of the near-term warming the world is experiencing. The last two years have been the warmest in recorded history.
Because of its potency as a greenhouse gas and the capability to control many sources of emissions, methane is often called the “low-hanging fruit” of climate action.
Oil and gas companies in the U.S. and globally has made various voluntary commitments to cut methane emissions, including a high-profile agreement announced at the in United Nations COP28 climate talks in 2023.
However, the IEA said the industry has not fulfilled those pledges, and as more accurate monitoring of methane by satellite has started, the gap between the actual emissions and the promised reductions has become clearer.
There are now more than 25 satellites in orbit providing data on methane, the IAE said, and the detection of “very large leaks” of methane from from oil and gas facilities reached a record high in 2024.
One of those satellites, MethaneSAT, was developed by the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund, which also operates an airplane-based methane monitor to track emissions in the U.S.
In a report last July, EDF said it had detected emissions of methane that were eight times higher than the targets the industry has agreed to meet.
The Biden administration developed regulations that would have imposed fees on excessive emissions of methane from oil and gas operations. Analysis of that rule showed it could achieve a nearly 80 percent reduction in methane. However, in February, before the rule went into effect, the Republican-controlled Congress voted to repeal it.
The IEA report also found that old, unused drilling wells and mines are major sources methane. Abandoned oil and gas wells and coal mines together contributed around 8 million tons of methane emissions last year, the report found. Together, those sources would be the world’s fourth-largest methane source.
Thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells dot petroleum-producing parts of the country such as the southwest and Appalachia, and those wells also frequently pollute air and water. Analysis conducted last year by the regional think tank Ohio River Valley Institute found that a program to cap abandoned wells in Appalachia could create good-paying jobs in economically distressed areas while reducing both local pollution and methane emissions.
The IEA report also found that coal mines are the second-largest energy sector source of methane, just behind the oil industry.
The global energy think tank Ember calculated that the methane emissions from coal mining are equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions from India.
“Most of the attention has been on the oil and gas sectors,” Ember senior analyst Dody Setiawan told Newsweek via email. “Coal mine methane is sometimes seen as more challenging to address, but there are proven technologies that can avoid half of emissions.”
Coal and methane deposits often occur together, and mining liberates the gas. Deep mines are often required to vent the gas from mines to avoid the risk of explosion. As with the oil and gas industry, the IEA said that no technological breakthroughs are required to cut emissions from coal.
“Burning or utilizing captured methane for electricity generation would be a positive first step,” Setiawan said. “When mines are closed, they should be sealed or flooded to reduce ongoing emissions.”
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