‘Reducing methane emissions from the energy sector is one of the best – and most affordable – opportunities to limit global warming in the near term,’
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called for ‘decisive, far-reaching efforts to cut methane emissions from fossil fuel production.’ Such efforts, the IEA says, must go along with decarbonisation of energy systems.
A new report: The Imperative of Cutting Methane from Fossil Fuels, asserts that while a drop in fossil fuel demand would cut methane emissions, this alone would not meet climate goals.
Targeted actions such as eliminating routine venting and flaring, and repairing leaks, are needed to limit warming to 1.5°C. Rapid cuts in methane emissions from fossil fuels, the report adds, could avoid up to 0.1°C in global temperature rise by mid-century.
The report warns that under the current trajectory, total methane emissions from human activity could rise by up to 13% between 2020 and 2030. To achieve the 1.5°C global warming limit, methane emissions would need to fall 30% to 60% over this time frame. Half this reduction would need to come in cuts from fossil fuel emissions. Existing technology could abate much of the emissions from oil and gas, and coal operations.
The IEA has estimated that spending $75 billion up to 2030 would allow deployment of all methane abatement measures in the oil and gas sector. This is said to be equivalent to less than 2% of income generated by the oil and gas industry in 2022.
‘Reducing methane emissions from the energy sector is one of the best – and most affordable – opportunities to limit global warming in the near term,’ said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
As well as the positive impact on climate change, the report adds that reducing methane emissions would prevent nearly 1 million premature deaths due to ozone exposure, 90 million tonnes of crop losses due to climate change, and around 85 billion hours of lost labour due to extreme heat by 2050. These conclusions are based on modelling from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Global Methane Assessment published in 2021.
Earlier this year researchers from Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada warned that there was a need for increased efforts to reduce methane emissions if targets set out in the Paris Agreement were to be met.
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