IEA reports on methane leakage to fossil fuel industry | – #IEA #reports #methane #leakage #fossil #fuel #industry
LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) – The fossil fuel industry is failing to tackle methane emissions despite promises to detect and repair leaking infrastructure, the International Energy Agency said in a report released on Tuesday.
In 2022, the global energy industry released an estimated 135 million tonnes of methane into the atmosphere – a potent greenhouse gas responsible for nearly a third of global warming since the industrial revolution.
The report says that high energy prices and despite additional incentives to capture methane amid growing demand for natural gas, last year’s emissions were slightly below the record highs released in 2019.
Methane is a major component of natural gas, so captured emissions can be sold as fuel.
While some progress has been made, “emissions are still too high and not falling fast enough – especially when cutting methane is one of the cheapest options to limit near-term global warming,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “There’s just no excuse.”
Latest UpdatesFuel CategoryBrent oil falls on fears of global economic slowdown, article with imageRegulatory Scrutiny CategoryEDF’s new UK nuclear project costs 40 billion rises to dollars, article with videoVideo
See 2 more stories
Energy sector village After agriculture, it accounts for about 40% of all methane emissions released as a result of human activity.
The IEA said that methane emissions from oil and gas alone could be reduced by existing technologies and last year worldwide oil and gas can be reduced to three-quarters with a modest investment of less than 3% of their company’s revenue.
Rob Jackson, an earth system scientist at Stanford University, said: “Oil and gas companies should spend part of last year’s record profits to prevent pollution. “We need to put a price on methane pollution like some countries put a price on carbon dioxide pollution.”
More than 150 countries will reduce global methane emissions by 20% by the end of this decade20committed to reduce at least 30% from the level of – although China and Russia major emitters, including Dozens of oil companies also volunteered for Oil and Gas Committed to reducing emissions through the Methane Partnership and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.
Georges Tijbosch, CEO of MIQ, the methane emissions certification standard, said, “There are a lot of promises around, but what you need mandatory mechanism,” he said.
NOAA physicist Lori Bruhwiler said rapid reductions in methane emissions are important, but the world must go along with deep carbon dioxide emissions reductions to avoid global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius and more severe impacts.
“Will it make it harder for us to reach 1.5? Absolutely,” he said of the consequences if countries and companies fail to curb methane.
The IEA report says that in 2022, there were more than 500 super emission events from oil and gas operations detected by satellites. More 100 were found in coal mines.
Reporting by Gloria Dickie in London and Kate Abnett in Brussels; Added by Shadia Nasralla and Ron Bousso in London report; Edited by Barbara Lewis
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-02-21 10:43:27
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”