Methane (CH₄) emissions from the global energy sector reached record levels last year, according to data provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA) this Wednesday.
This powerful greenhouse gas, despite being responsible for around 30% of the planet's accumulated warming since the Industrial Revolution, has been outside the focus of international climate agreements until recently.
In 2021, coinciding with the climate summit held in the Scottish city of Glasgow, an alliance of one hundred countries was forged that committed to reducing global emissions of this compound by 30% in 2030. One of the sectors in which Experts see it as easier to achieve considerable decreases in energy (the other major emitters related to human activities are agriculture and livestock).
However, despite the succession of announcements and commitments in recent years, the curve of these emissions continues without bending.
The methane expelled by fossil fuels continues without falling
and, therefore, fueling the climate crisis.
The International Energy Agency estimates that emissions from this energy sector will reach 130 million tons in 2023. Leakages from the oil industry—during extraction and transportation operations, for example—accounted for 50 million tons.
This is followed by jobs related to coal (40 million) and natural gas (30 million).
Another 10 million would correspond to the combustion of biomass.
Last year's emissions increased compared to 2022 and are similar to those of 2019, when the historical record was set, the IEA has highlighted.
“It is essential to reduce emissions,” Christophe McGlade, head of the Energy Supply Unit of the IEA, the department responsible for this study on this powerful greenhouse gas, warned in a virtual meeting with the international press.
Despite these data, the IEA maintains a certain optimistic tone.
“Efforts to reduce methane emissions are expected to accelerate in 2024,” says this international agency.
Because, he remembers,
Some 200 governments agreed in Dubai, during the last climate summit, to “substantially reduce methane emissions by 2030.”
The report presented this Wednesday points out that “if all the commitments” assumed “by countries and companies to date are implemented in full and on time, it would be enough to reduce methane emissions from fossil fuels by 50% by 2030.” ″.
The most positive aspect is that these promises are already being translated into regulatory initiatives to stop methane leaks in some nations, such as the United States, Canada and the 27 members of the European Union.
The problem, McGlade has pointed out, is that many other countries (the majority) still do not have “detailed implementation plans” to comply.
And there are less than six years left to reach 2030, the year that has been set as the date for all commitments.
Agriculture and fuels
Total annual methane emissions on Earth reached 580 million tons.
Around 40% correspond to natural sources, such as wetlands, and behind the remaining 60% is the hand of man.
Agriculture and livestock farming (with activities such as rice plantations or beef farms) account for around 145 million, compared to the 130 million in the energy sector calculated by the IEA.
If the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement is to be met—that the average increase in global temperature does not exceed 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels—the IEA estimates that a “75% reduction in emissions is needed.” of methane from fossil fuels by 2030.”
That so much emphasis is placed on the fossil fuel sector makes practical sense, because the leaks of this gas in this case are usually punctual, that is, they come from well-identified sources, such as oil extraction wells or a section of gas pipeline.
Some leaks are accidental, but others are intentional vents in which methane, the main component of natural gas, is also wasted.
In the case of coal, controlling these leaks is somewhat more complicated.
In any case, the IEA also considers that it is “extremely profitable” to fight against these leaks.
“Around 40% of methane emissions from fossil fuel operations in 2023 could have been avoided at no net cost, since the value of the methane captured was higher than the cost of the measure necessary to avoid them,” this agency points out.
“Reducing methane emissions from fossil fuels by 75% by 2030 would require around $170 billion, less than 5% of the revenue generated by the fossil fuel industry in 2023,” the IEA emphasizes.
By country, China is the country that expels the most methane.
They are followed by Russia, the United States - the main emitter if only oil and gas operations are taken into account -, Iran, Turkmenistan, India and Venezuela.
One of the keys to fighting these leaks is control through satellites, which has increased “transparency,” McGlade highlighted.
These satellites are “facilitating the identification and addressing” of these leaks.
Additionally, “they are filling gaps and uncertainties in the data by providing information that might otherwise be left out” of the public spotlight.
The IEA highlights, for example, the satellite launched last week into space designed specifically for the detection of leaks from the oil and gas industry, a project led by the American NGO Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
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