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August 23, 2022
The United States plans to cut methane emissions by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030, an ambitious and necessary step in fighting the climate crisis due to methane’s potency as a greenhouse gas. The U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, released by the Biden-Harris Administration in November 2021, lays out a path to achieving that goal. The action plan focuses on reducing methane emissions from some of the largest sources––including fossil fuel activities, landfills, and agriculture––by updating regulations, deploying financial incentives, and using public-private partnerships. To put some of these goals into practice, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (P.L.117-58) invests $4.7 billion in plugging abandoned oil and gas wells to reduce methane leaks. While this initiative is a step in the right direction, more actions are needed to rapidly cut methane emissions, and thankfully, many low-cost solutions to do so are readily available.
Although carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most well-known greenhouse gas, there are several other gasses that significantly contribute to the climate crisis, one of which is methane. Methane is the second-most abundant greenhouse gas, clocking in at about 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. methane emissions in 2020 were recorded at 650.4 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, equal to the annual emissions of 140 million cars in one year. Eliminating these emissions would be comparable to removing over half of the cars in the United States.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas; over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent at warming the planet than carbon dioxide. This means that rapidly reducing methane emissions now would provide near-term climate benefits and help the United States adhere to the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Estimates show that 50 to 65 percent of methane emissions come from human activities, such as agriculture, landfills, and the oil and gas sector.
In addition to being a powerful greenhouse gas, methane is also a prime ingredient in the formation of ground-level ozone, also known as smog. Smog is a potent greenhouse gas and air pollutant that is created when sunlight reacts with methane, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides. If the signature grimy haze over urban areas is not bad enough, ground-level ozone is also responsible for around one million premature respiratory deaths per year worldwide.
Though methane impacts are dire, there are a plethora of methane reduction opportunities—too many for this article to cover. Below, we dive into key methane emission reduction opportunities for agriculture, landfills, and the fossil fuel industry.
In the agricultural sector, most methane emissions come from enteric fermentation (the digestive process of livestock) and manure management systems. The combination of enteric fermentation and manure management accounted for over a third of anthropogenic methane emissions in the United States in 2020. Since 1990, U.S. methane emissions from manure management have increased by a stunning 71 percent due to liquid waste management in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Storing manure in liquid form in lagoons, tanks, or pits, as is common practice at CAFOs, produces methane.
Sustainable agriculture practices like rotational livestock grazing have been shown to reduce these emissions. Rotational livestock systems help reduce methane emissions by more evenly distributing manure over the land rather than concentrating it in one area. Manure that is spread out evenly on pasturelands produces CO2 but little or no methane emissions and has the added benefit of returning nutrients directly to the soil. Farmers can also change the composition of the feed they supply to livestock to encourage the growth of non-emitting bacteria and discourage the growth of methane-emitting bacteria. For example, a preliminary study showed that adding seaweed to cattle diets can reduce enteric methane by 58 percent.
Methane emissions from manure can also be managed through methane digester systems, which control the breakdown of organic waste like manure and convert the methane emissions into biogas and digestate, a fertilizer. The biogas can then be used to produce heat and electricity. This process can help diversify revenue streams and generate energy to meet local needs.
The Senate-passed bipartisan Growing Climate Solutions Act (S.1251) aims to help farmers, ranchers, and foresters adopt practices that reduce or sequester greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, programs in the upcoming farm bill can provide technical and financial assistance to farmers looking to implement sustainable agricultural practices that reduce methane emissions.
In the same vein of waste management, landfills are also a significant source of methane. As organic material in landfills decomposes in low-oxygen conditions, landfill gas is produced, composed of roughly 50 percent methane and 50 percent CO2. The amount of methane emitted from landfills in 2020 was around 109 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, the same emissions as 20.3 million passenger vehicles driven over the course of a year.
One of the first steps to reducing methane emissions from landfills is to reduce the amount of waste sent to them. This includes reducing food waste in landfills through activities like food donation, diversion, and composting. To help address food waste, Representative Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) introduced the Zero Food Waste Act (H.R.4444), which would create a new EPA grant program to help communities identify food waste mitigation projects and strategies. Rep. Brownley has also introduced the Cultivating Organic Matter Through the Promotion of Sustainable Techniques Act (COMPOST Act) (S.2388/H.R.4443) with Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), which would add composting as a conservation practice under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s conservation programs.
Landfill gas can also be captured and reused. This process collects the methane produced by landfills and uses it to produce electricity. Currently, there are 541 operational landfill gas projects in the United States, with 474 other landfills that are good candidates for projects. Cogeneration projects—also known as combined heat and power—generate both thermal energy and electricity and can be more efficient and therefore more attractive to project developers.
Natural gas and petroleum systems made up almost a third of U.S. methane emissions in 2020. Fortunately, the International Energy Agency estimates that 75 percent of oil and gas methane emissions could be avoided with technology currently available today. Additionally, shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy like wind energy will be essential for reducing all greenhouse gas emissions, including methane.
Oil and gas methane emissions primarily result from leaks in pipelines, processing facilities, and other infrastructure. Airborne surveys conducted over the Permian Basin, a key oil- and gas-producing region encompassing parts of Texas and New Mexico, revealed that 30 fossil fuel facilities leak methane emissions equivalent to the emissions of 500,000 passenger vehicles. Repairing these leaks could immediately reduce methane emissions by 100,000 metric tons and save $26 million in wasted gas per year. Technologies to detect and quantify methane emissions from fossil fuel activities are becoming increasingly accurate, which can help identify and stop leaks faster.
Oil-extracting operations often emit fossil gas (also known as natural gas), which is predominantly made up of methane. When the gas byproduct cannot be brought to market, it is vented or flared instead. Venting means fossil gas is intentionally released into the atmosphere, while flaring involves burning off the gas––both of which have significant climate impacts. Venting and flaring practices waste $400 million worth of gas every year, resulting in $50 million in lost federal revenue. They also cause significant damage to air quality, which can impact nearby residents.
Abandoned oil and gas wells and coal mines that are not plugged also emit methane. Remediating abandoned oil and gas wells and coal mines can prevent up to 263,000 metric tons of methane from entering the atmosphere. As explained above, IIJA authorized $4.7 billion for orphaned well plugging, remediation, and restoration, an effort that will provide climate and economic benefits. In May 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that $33 million from IIJA would be made available to address 277 “high-priority pollution wells” located on public lands.
In May 2022, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published a report laying out the executive actions needed to address methane emissions from oil and gas development. Several bills have also been introduced in Congress to address the issue. The Methane Waste Prevention Act of 2021 (H.R. 1492), which passed the House Natural Resources Committee, would require the EPA to reduce methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry, and instructs the DOI to establish new limits on the amount of methane that oil and gas producers can release into the atmosphere.
Moving forward, it is critical for the United States to incorporate environmental justice into methane mitigation efforts (and climate change mitigation as a whole). Communities of color, especially Black communities, are disproportionately exposed to methane emissions. A 2021 study examined 483 methane super-emitters, like dairy facilities and fossil fuel production sites, and noted that nearby communities with larger Black populations were exposed to more methane pollution. Similar disparities were present for Hispanic and Indigenous populations. As mentioned earlier, methane is a precursor to ozone, and long-term exposure to ozone leads to increased health risks, including asthma, cancer, and lung disease.
On the international stage, the United States and the European Union led efforts to launch the Global Methane Pledge at the 2021 global climate summit (COP26). A total of 111 countries, including the United States, pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan provides a pathway for achieving this goal, and if successfully carried out, will be a promising step toward mitigating the climate crisis. With less than eight years remaining until 2030, the United States will need to use every opportunity to reach its ambitious goals.
Author: Nathan Lee
Read the other articles in our Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases series on Nitrous Oxide and Fluorinated Gases.
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