Methane emissions rose in 2022, according to estimates from energy watchdog the IEA, while record high prices for natural gas last year failed to drive large cuts in emissions of the potent greenhouse gas.
The global energy sector accounted for almost 135mn t of methane emissions in 2022, edging slightly higher on the year, the IEA estimated in its Global Methane Tracker 2023 report today. Coal, oil and natural gas operations are each responsible for around 40mn t of emissions and together nearly 5mn t of leaks from end-use equipment, the watchdog said. The remaining 10mn t of methane emissions come from the "incomplete combustion of bioenergy", it estimated.
"An immediate and significant change in the pace and scale of methane action is needed to achieve reductions consistent with international climate objectives", the IEA said. Halting all non-emergency flaring and venting is the "single most impactful measure" that can be taken and would avoid close to 20pc of oil and gas methane emissions, it added.
More than 260bn m³ of gas is wasted through flaring and leaks today, the IEA said. Action on flaring and emissions could bring around 200bn m³ of natural gas to the market, it estimated — more than the EU's imports of Russian gas before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Methane has been responsible for around a third of global warming since the industrial revolution and 1t of methane is considered equivalent to 30t of CO2, based on global warming potential, the IEA noted.
Methane emissions from fossil fuel operations in 2022 were slightly lower than the record in 2019, while natural gas flaring fell globally, preliminary estimates show, the IEA said. It estimated that the global average methane intensity of oil and gas production has fallen by around 5pc since 2019. Very large leaks — such as the explosion on the Nord Stream gas pipeline last September — are "dwarfed" by emissions from normal oil and gas operations, the IEA said.
Around 40pc of methane emissions from oil and gas operations could be avoided at no net cost, as the outlays for abatement would be less than the market value of the additional gas captured, the IEA said. This is based on average natural gas prices in 2017-21, and the IEA projects that around $100bn is needed to 2030 to deploy all methane abatement measures in the oil and gas sector — less than 3pc of the industry's net income in 2022.
Data for methane emissions are very difficult to collect, the watchdog noted. IEA estimates of key oil and gas producing countries' methane emissions are higher than the emissions reported to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Reporting on the issue must improve if targets are to be reached, the UN and EU-led International Methane Emissions Observatory found in October.
The Global Methane Pledge — which aims to cut methane emissions from human activity by 30pc by 2030, from a 2020 baseline — now has 150 countries as signatories. The pledge was launched at the UN Cop 26 climate summit in November 2021 and "brought new momentum for methane action", the IEA noted. Countries that have joined the pledge account for over half of total methane emissions from human activity and about 45pc of methane from fossil fuel operations, the IEA said. But the pledge is not legally-binding and China, the world's biggest emitter, has not signed it, although it has drafted a plan to tackle methane emissions.
