COP27: methane high on the agenda. The EPA tightens rules, UNEP launches an alert system

The COP27 climate conference, which has been under way in Sharm el-Sheikh since 6 November 2022, was an opportunity to present new action to reduce methane emissions. Leading governments and organisations recalled the Global Methane Pledge initiative, launched at COP26 by the USA and the European Union, which aims to cut global methane emissions by 30% by 2030 compared with 2020. For the biogas industry this is an important context: methane from agriculture, waste and landfills is one of the cheapest to reduce.

What is changing

Two events accompanying the conference had practical significance. First, the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on 11 November 2022 tightened rules on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, including requirements for leak detection and repair and limits on gas flaring. Second, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched the MARS alert system (Methane Alert and Response System), which uses satellite data to detect large methane leaks and inform governments of the places where action is needed.

Such tools raise the bar for transparency: emissions cease to be merely estimates and become measurable and verifiable.

Significance for the industry in Poland

The European Union is a co-author of the Global Methane Pledge, and the EU regulation on reducing methane emissions in the energy sector is being negotiated. For biogas plants and biowaste processing installations two things matter. First, methane is becoming the subject of regulation, so standards for measurement, leak detection and reporting will be tightened outside the fossil fuel sector as well. Second, biogas and biomethane stand out in that they capture methane from feedstocks that would otherwise emit it into the atmosphere.

Investors should bear in mind the tightness of installations: methane escaping from biogas stores, degassing systems or digestate tanks worsens the climate balance. Leak monitoring is therefore becoming good operating practice.

Why methane is a "fast switch"

Methane stays in the atmosphere much shorter than carbon dioxide, but over a horizon of several decades it warms the climate more strongly. For this reason reducing it is regarded as one of the quickest actions to slow the pace of warming. About half of anthropogenic methane emissions come from agriculture and waste, and the rest from the energy sector. In practice this means that reductions should cover all three areas: the tightness of gas infrastructure, the management of manure and slurry, and landfills and biowaste.

What next

The COP27 summit is still under way; regardless of its outcome, the topic of methane will be continued in the EU and the USA. For Poland, the most important will be the next stages of work on the EU methane regulation and the implementation of measurement and reporting systems in the energy sector.