IEA’s annual report

Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its report for the year 2022, setting an alarm for global carbon emitters.

Key findings of the report:

Around 40% of all average human activity-related methane emissions come from the energy industry.
The greenhouse gas is also released throughout the drilling, extraction, and transportation processes through leaks from valves and other equipment.
By applying well-known procedures like leak detection and repair programmes and updating leaky equipment, emissions in the oil and gas sector can be reduced by over 75%.
Ultimately reducing 75 per cent of the wastage of natural gas could lower global temperature rise by nearly 0.1 degree Celsius by mid-century.
For industries: 80 per cent of the available options to curb the release of methane could be implemented by the fossil fuel industry at net zero cost.

About Methane:

With only one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms, methane remains the most basic hydrocarbon (CH4). It is flammable and is used as fuel worldwide.
As per UNEP For its first 20 years in the atmosphere, methane has a warming effect that is more than 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
Agricultural practices, coal mining, oil and gas systems, natural gas networks, and wastes are some of the common sources of methane.
Methane has a significant short-term impact on the rate of climate change because it is approximately 25 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Initiatives to tackle Methane emissions:

National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC): The NAPCC was established in 2008 with the goal of raising awareness of the threat posed by climate change and the means to counter it
‘HaritDhara’ (HD): The HaritDhara (HD) anti-methanogenic feed supplement was created by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). It can increase milk output while reducing the methane emissions from cattle by 17 to 20%.
India Greenhouse Gas Program: The India GHG Program is an industry-led voluntary framework to quantify and manage greenhouse gas emissions.
- It is run by the non-profit organisation WRI India, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
Bharat Stage-VI: India changed its emission standards from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI).
Global Methane pledge: About 100 nations joined forces in a voluntary pledge to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% from the levels in 2020 by 2030 at the Glasgow climate conference (UNFCCC COP 26) in 2021.