{"id":31926,"date":"2022-11-17T02:47:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T02:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=31926"},"modified":"2022-11-18T09:27:39","modified_gmt":"2022-11-18T09:27:39","slug":"why-fixing-methane-leaks-from-the-oil-and-gas-industry-can-be-a-climate-game-changer-one-that-pays-for-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-fixing-methane-leaks-from-the-oil-and-gas-industry-can-be-a-climate-game-changer-one-that-pays-for-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"Why fixing methane leaks from the oil and gas industry can be a climate game-changer \u2013 one that pays for\u00a0itself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jim Krane<\/a>, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the cheapest, quickest way to reduce climate change without roiling the economy? In the United States, it may be by reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Methane is the main component of natural gas, and it can leak anywhere along the supply chain, from the wellhead and processing plant, through pipelines and distribution lines, all the way to the burner of your home\u2019s stove<\/a> or furnace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once it reaches the atmosphere, methane\u2019s super heat-trapping properties render it a major agent of warming. Over 20 years, methane causes 85 times more warming<\/a> than the same amount of carbon dioxide. But methane doesn\u2019t stay in the atmosphere for long, so stopping methane leaks today can have a fast impact on lowering global temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s one reason governments at the COP27, the 2022 United Nations climate change conference in Egypt, have focused on methane<\/a> as an easy win in the climate battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, 130 countries, including the United States and most of the big oil producers other than Russia, have pledged to reduce methane emissions<\/a> from oil and gas by at least 30%. China has not signed but has agreed to reduce emissions<\/a>. If those pledges are met, the result would be equivalent to<\/a> eliminating the greenhouse gas emissions from all of the world\u2019s cars, trucks, buses and all two- and three-wheeled vehicles, according to the International Energy Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also another reason for the methane focus, and it makes this strategy more likely to succeed: Stopping methane leaks from the oil and gas industry can largely pay for itself<\/a> and boost the amount of fuel available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capturing methane can pay off<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Methane is produced by decaying organic material. Natural sources, such as wetlands, account for roughly 40%<\/a> of today\u2019s global methane emissions. But the majority comes from human activities, such as farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants \u2013 and fuel production. Oil, gas and coal<\/a> together make up about a third of global methane emissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all, methane is responsible for almost a third of the 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) that global temperatures have risen since the industrial era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, methane emissions are still rising. In 2021, atmospheric levels increased<\/a> to 1,908 parts per billion, the highest levels in at least 800,000 years<\/a>. Last year\u2019s increase of 18 parts per billion was the biggest<\/a> on record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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