Cutting methane emissions
Everyone is talking about it.
Reducing methane emissions.
What do we know about methane and why is everyone talking about it?
👉 What? = a powerful greenhouse gas emission and a ground-level pollutant
-it traps way more heat than CO2 = fast planet warming
-but it has a ‘short’ lifespan and dissipates on average after about 12 years (comparison: CO2 can stay around for hundreds of years)
👉 Where does it come from?
-Livestock emission = basically from animals’ manure and farts🐮
-Fossil fuels = methane is a byproduct from oil & gas production, so it’s burnt or released directly into the atmosphere – often also from leakages
-Burning of biomass – i.e. nature (!) and agricultural waste
-Organic waste in landfills produces the gas
-Rice farms create methane-emitting bacteria (because oxygen is not able to get into the flooded fields)
👉 Facts & figures:
60 = the percentage of methane emissions from human activity
1/3 = methane’s impact on the planet’s temperature increase since the industrial age
-Some of the biggest methane emitting sources are from accidents and process failures. But, these are not all included in official data
👉 Solution?
There’s lots of scope to cut methane emissions – it’s relatively cost effective to reduce😅
👏Big shift towards more plant-based & local foods for everyone
👏Changes in livestock feed
👏Manure management – covering, composting or collecting it for biogas
👏Methane detection & mapping via satellites – to measure emission from fossil fuels
– Continued improvement in detection – higher resolution, bigger area coverage, higher detection sensitivity
👏Action through the Global Methane Pledge (launched at COP26)
👏Better & more transparent data – for a complete methane picture
🙌Everyone is talking about it because, reducing methane emissions now will have a positive effect quickly. In fact, warming can be reduced by 0.2% by 2050 (if targets are hit) and will prevent millions of tons of crop losses
While you are here, have a look at my services to see how I can help you on your eco journey!
Sources: IEA, UNEP, Our World in Data, The Earth Observatory & Global Methane Pledge,
Happy Friday!