Methane emissions 70 per cent higher amid soaring wholesale gas prices, IEA reveals
Methane emissions from the global energy sector are 70 per cent higher than officially reported, according to the International Energy Agency, with the coal sector identified as the biggest single source for the increased figures.
The watchdog revealed that national inventories and consequent emissions had been widely under-reported for years.
In its freshly published 2022 Global Methane Tracker, the IEA logged contributions from the coal industry for the first time.
It showed that coal had provided the highest emissions of the potent greenhouse gas compared to other major parts of the fossil fuel sector at 42m tonnes (Mt), followed by 41 Mt and 39 Mt from oil and natural gas respectively.
Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, noted that had all methane leaks from the fossil fuel industry been captured and sold last year, the world could have been benefitted from 180bn cubic metres of natural gas amid soaring wholesale costs.
He said: “At today’s elevated gas prices, nearly all of the emissions from oil and gas operations worldwide could be avoided at no net cost.”
It has previously warned of countries turning to coal amid soaring gas prices.
The IEA estimated that the lost methane was equivalent to all the gas used in Europe’s power sector and more than sufficient to ease the tight supply which have driven up prices.
The disappointing results follow more than 100 countries joining Western effort to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 from 2020 levels at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow last year.
Methane is the main greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide.
It has higher heat-trapping potential than CO2 but breaks down in the atmosphere faster – meaning that cutting methane emissions can have a rapid impact on reining in global warming.
The energy sector accounts for around 40 per cent of methane emissions from human activity, second only to agriculture.