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When the final estimates are determined, gas escaping from the Nord Stream pipeline disaster will likely be the largest recorded release of methane from the oil and gas industry.
But remarkably, those catastrophic emissions represent about the same amount of methane the industry releases worldwide every few days. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global industry emits 82.5 million methane emissions yearly.
Rarely in the news, this ongoing methane crisis poses a dire threat to our climate. With over 80 times the 20-year warming power of carbon dioxide, methane from fossil fuel operations and other human activities is causing more than a quarter of today’s warming.
We have the technologies today to reduce worldwide methane pollution from the oil & gas sector by 75% by 2030. What we don’t have yet is comprehensive legislation to implement these solutions.
Research shows that a rapid, large-scale effort to reduce methane emissions could slow the rate of warming by 30%.
Unlike CO2, methane, the main component of fossil gas, is a consumer good with a market value. Capturing global methane emissions in 2021 would have resulted in an additional 180 billion cubic meters (bcm) of fossil gas – more than what Europe imported from Russia that year.
Wasting this valuable fossil energy source when Europe is crumbling to backfill Russian supplies and energy prices are as high as ever is something we simply cannot afford to do.
Europe is uniquely positioned to drive down that waste within its own borders and globally through its position as the world’s largest importer of fossil fuels.
Decision makers have taken the first steps. The European Commission launched the Global Methane Pledge together with the United States, provides support to the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), participates in the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0, and signed a Memoranda of Understanding with Egypt, Israel, and Azerbaijan, to incorporate REpowerEU guidance on tackling methane leakage.
But most importantly: In December 2021, the European Commission proposed a new regulation to reduce methane emissions from the energy sector. This is a good starting point for Europe to “clean up” within its borders and lead by example.
However, if the EU wants to reach its goal of reducing methane emissions by 55% by 2030, the proposal has to be strengthened – stricter in terms of measurement-based monitoring, reporting and verifying procedures (MRV), frequency of leak detection and repair that would allow for significant reduction of unpredictable fugitive emissions, and limits on venting and flaring.
Companies participating in the OGMP 2.0 will already have achieved the MRV requirements. Hence, any new regulation has to – at a minimum – reflect international best practices and align with those OGMP 2.0 commitments and timelines.
Even more crucial, the proposal leaves out emissions from imported fuels. Because the EU imports 90% of the gas and 97% of the oil it consumes, its external “methane footprint” is at least eight times greater than our domestic one.
And the actual number might be much higher: Research has shown that often, methane emissions are higher than reported, and the practice of flaring fossil gas to reduce methane emissions is less efficient than previously estimated. More robust measurement-based monitoring and reporting obligations are necessary because we can’t control what we don’t know.
Instead of getting stronger, the proposed regulation could be weakened by relentless lobbying from the fossil fuel industry. If this happens, Europe will lose a crucial opportunity to lead global methane reduction efforts.
Can we afford to backtrack on this, especially in light of climate disasters and skyrocketing energy prices? The elephant is in the room. And we don’t see it.
