Methane on US target now

Finally, the world is zeroing on methane, to get some quick results in cutting warming.

 Methane on US target now

---

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

---

• The story: The usual villain in global warming debate is carbon dioxide, and methane has had almost a free ride so far. But this climate-warming gas is 84 times stronger than carbon dioxide, and may finally get the due attention.
• Regulatory gaze: While one atmosphere-heating pollutant after another has fallen under regulators’ sway, methane restrictions have escaped attention. That will change when the Biden administration proposes the most aggressive methane mandates yet for oil and gas wells.

1. Science informs that mankind has a vanishingly little time left to slow global warming before serious climate tipping points arrive
2. The fastest way to pump the brakes is to reduce methane pollution

• Curbing methane: Methane is blamed by scientists for more than a quarter of the global warming happening today. As the results of climate change become more apparent in drought-fueled forest fires ravaging the Western U.S. and intense coastal storms drenching cities with record rainfalls, action is coming.

1. The coming regulations, to be proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will address leaks from nearly a million oil and gas wells -- among the largest sources of the gas.
2. The proposals would order more robust inspections and repairs of equipment at new wells and would force companies to plug leaks on hundreds of thousands of wells that were drilled long ago but have so far escaped restrictions.
3. These are also expected to block drillers from simply venting methane that accompanies oil directly into the air or burning it off, with flares so concentrated they can be seen from space. That is done in some regions because methane, despite being the chief ingredient of natural gas, is often treated as an unwanted byproduct when it emerges from oil wells and there aren’t pipelines to carry it to paying customers.
4. The leakage is bad, not just in US but in Russia and other places, and it’s cheap and easy to fix. With the lifetime of methane being much shorter than CO2, the damage it does is in the next couple of decades and, conversely, the benefit of not emitting it is going to be felt in the next couple of decades.

• Biden's approach: The move comes after President Joe Biden unveiled a plan to persuade other countries to slash emissions of the gas 30% by the end of the decade. The delay in taking action had frustrated environmentalists because existing technology can capture the vast majority of methane from oil and gas sites - making the industry’s emissions low-hanging fruit in the fight against global warming.
• What about agriculture: Some worry the administration’s push is ignoring methane coming from agriculture, responsible for 36% of emissions in the U.S. More than two dozen green groups have petitioned the EPA to write new regulations reducing methane emissions from industrial dairy and hog operations.

1. Most feel that agriculture is untouchable, and factory farms may be given a pass from environmental regulation (being a very politically powerful industry)
2. The government has focused mostly on federal funding, voluntary programs and research into ways to keep methane from escaping out of manure ponds and from livestock, including through special devices, dietary shifts and changes in waste management.
3. When it comes to new methane mandates, the administration’s regulatory focus is trained squarely on the oil and gas industry. An estimated 80% of methane leaks from oil and gas sites globally can be captured with existing technology compared to just 32% of the emissions from livestock.

• Tech advance: Rapid advancements in the technology to detect methane leaks -- including through aerial surveillance operations -- will make it easier for regulators, environmentalists and industry alike to document the true scale of the problem and home in on problem sites. Though many oil and gas companies have voluntarily adopted methane-reduction programs, with some employing drones and laser-equipped airplanes to search out leaks, environmentalists and scientists say faster action is essential. Unlike carbon dioxide, which can linger in the atmosphere and soak up the sun’s heat for centuries, methane packs its big heat-trapping punch for about two decades before dissipating.
• Energy Prices: Many oil companies and allies in Washington warned that aggressive norms would raise energy prices and quash domestic production. When the EPA in 2016 finalized requirements for companies to regularly search for and fix leaks among new and modified sites, the agency didn’t touch already operating wells believed to supply the vast majority of oilfield methane leaks. After President Donald Trump was elected, the U.S. government reversed course, and new leaders at the EPA rolled back most of the 2016 mandates. The Congress in 2021 restored the Obama-era requirements, but so much time was lost.
• Summary: Fortunately, with Biden in the driving seat, things are warming up on the methane front.
• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain how policy has targeted the various greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. What worked, what did not? (2) Why is targeting methane a fruitful strategy in combating warming? Explain.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

#methane #globalwarming #CO2

Join UPSC Self Prep course | Online Course (PT Gurukul)  | Covid Special Course | Join PT courses

* Content sourced from free internet sources (publications, PIB site, international sites, etc.). Take your own subscriptions. Copyrights acknowledged.