COP29: Cutting Global Methane Emission

Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, plays a major role in global warming despite its relatively short atmospheric lifetime. To curb methane’s impact, we must intensify efforts to reduce emissions across sectors and develop innovative solutions for capturing methane from hard-to-reach, low-concentration sources.

SINTEF is participating at COP as an independent observer, committed to advancing sustainable climate and energy solutions. To support this goal, we are providing advice to climate negotiators on 15 key areas with the potential to significantly reduce emissions.

• SINTEF’s  advice for COP29: Technology for a Faster Global Climate Transition

Recommendations

• Establish a binding, global arrangement based on the Global Methane Pledge, preferably in collaboration with the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI). We should strive to achieve negative emissions from technical installations.
• Gather more knowledge on the potential of removing methane from low-concentration sources, including a clear identification of the situations when this method would be a suitable climate solution to pursue.

Problem

Atmospheric methane is the second most potent greenhouse gas. Despite having an atmospheric lifetime of only 10-12 years, methane has a global warming potential that is 30 times higher than CO₂ over a 100-year period, and 83 times higher over a 20-year period. According to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, anthropogenic methane emissions have contributed to approximately 0.5°C of the observed global warming.

Methane emissions comprise approximately 10% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU and Norway, and 11.5% of emissions in the US (over a 100-year period). These emissions are mainly attributed to agricultural activities, waste management, and the extraction and use of fossil fuels, such as oil, gas and coal. In Europe, the majority of methane emissions come from agriculture (57% in Norway, 46% in the EU and 26% in the US), while oil and gas operations are a major source of methane emissions globally (30% in the US). High methane emissions can lead to natural gas having a worse greenhouse gas balance than coal.

Methane emissions from oil and gas operations can occur in various parts of the value chain, and a distinction must be made between conventional reserves and shale gas/oil sands. This is partly due to leaks and partly due to the technologies in use, such as valves that operate with hydraulic solutions, which can release methane gas. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has investigated different sources of methane leaks from technological installations, and there are many technologies that contribute to these emissions.

Even though methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, agriculture and meat production have received the most attention, a significant part of global methane emissions come from rice cultivation. Rice is the staple food for half of the world’s population, and its production is the source of half of global methane emissions from cultivated land. Marshland is another important source of methane emissions. Removing methane emissions from low-concentration sources such as rice fields and marshland, but also animal husbandry, receding tundra and the general air, is challenging due to the low concentration of methane in the air (10-200 times lower than CO₂).

A report from the United Nations Environment Programme on methane shows that cutting methane emissions by 45% can reduce global warming by 0.28°C by the mid-century – and contribute to keeping the world on track towards our goal of keeping the global temperature increase to below 2°C.

Solution

The US and EU’s Global Methane Pledge (GMP) initiative, which was launched during COP26, was crucial for shining a spotlight on the importance of reducing our methane emissions. The GMP sets requirements on oil, gas and coal suppliers to measure and monitor the methane emissions associated with production and distribution, and to introduce measures that will reduce these emissions. The agreement is based on a voluntary goal to contribute to reducing global methane emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels. Now is the time to increase our ambitions, and concretise national targets for methane emission cuts.

Methane emissions from the oil and gas industry can be significantly reduced using current technology. According to the IEA, methane emissions can be reduced by 40% at no net cost, using known, existing technologies.

For example, Norwegian oil and gas production has relatively low methane leaks compared to other countries. This may be due to the fact that Norwegian oil and gas producers are taxed on their methane emissions, as well as the strict Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) requirements, particularly offshore. This result is that the cost of methane emissions is more expensive than the cost of investments in technical equipment to reduce these emissions.

While reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry can be achieved with existing technologies, in order to reduce methane at the levels necessary to significantly impact the climate, we must also remove methane from more challenging, low-concentration sources. Technologies are currently being developed to convert methane from these low-concentration sources into CO₂, and in some cases, into methanol. These technologies are promising, yet still in an early stage of development.

Main COP29 recommendation: International research communities and industrial partners are developing technologies to reduce emissions and advance the energy transition, and we strongly recommend establishing a global North-South R&D program with open, competitive calls to ensure a fair, accelerated path to a sustainable economy.