The Commission proposes a regulation on reducing methane emissions in the energy sector

On 15 December 2021 the European Commission proposed a regulation on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector (COM(2021) 805). It delivers on an announcement in the methane strategy of October 2020 and is part of the EU contribution to the Global Methane Pledge. The proposal covers crude oil, natural gas and coal, and in particular introduces measurement and reporting of emissions, mandatory detection and repair of leaks, and limits on flaring and venting of gas.

Main elements of the proposal

• MRV – an obligation to measure, report and verify methane emissions, according to rules consistent with international reporting standards;
• LDAR – regular leak inspections and an obligation to repair them quickly;
• limits on flaring and venting – a ban on routine venting of gas to the atmosphere and a limit on flaring to strictly defined exceptions;
• coal mines – requirements concerning degasification, including of active and closed mines;
• imports – requirements for importers of fossil fuels concerning reporting of emissions in supply chains, so that compliance with EU standards can be assessed;
• transparency – a public database of methane emissions.

Agriculture and waste

The regulation concerns the energy sector, where reductions are cheapest and easiest to measure. Emissions from agriculture and waste, which together make up the majority of EU methane emissions, remain the subject of other policies: the Common Agricultural Policy, waste legislation and the methane strategy. For biogas plants it is significant that measurement, leak detection and documenting gas losses may become standard in other sectors too, and the experience from the energy sector will serve any future regulation.

Significance for Poland

For Poland, where hard coal mining is a significant source of methane, the cost and feasibility of the new requirements were of great importance. The proposal covers both active and closed mines, which is important for coal companies. For gas grid operators, the measurement and repair obligations mean additional expenditure, but also the possibility of reducing gas losses.

What next

The proposal required agreement in the European Parliament and the Council. For the biogas industry it was important that the proposal did not impose new obligations on biogas plants, but showed the direction of tightening requirements for controlling methane emissions throughout the gas chain.

Why only energy

The Commission justified narrowing the proposal to the energy sector by the fact that this is where it is technically easiest to measure and reduce emissions, and the cost of limits is relatively low. In agriculture and waste, emissions are more dispersed, which makes uniform measurement and enforcement harder. For this reason, in those sectors the Commission pointed to incentive instruments, such as the Common Agricultural Policy, rather than direct mandates.

Link with biogas

Introducing standards for measuring and repairing leaks for gas grids increases the credibility of gas in trade. For biomethane injected into the grid this means that the whole supply chain, from producer to consumer, will be subject to increasingly harmonised standards, which helps build trust in the climate value of renewable gases.