NEW
YORK, May 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The
non-profit Energy Vision today published its report, "Meeting the
Methane Challenge: How the U.S. Can Reach Its 2030 Goal." The
Global Methane Pledge commits the U.S. and other countries to
cutting methane emissions 30% by 2030 ("30x30"). Methane is 87
times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over 20
years and has caused a third of modern global warming.
On May 7, EPA's New Source
Performance Standards (NSPS) tightening methane requirements for
oil and gas production took effect. If fully implemented by 2029,
the NSPS would cut U.S. methane emissions by 17.5%, Energy Vision's
report finds. The report identifies a complementary strategy that
could go the rest of the way to 30x30: anaerobic digestion of
organic waste.
Methane biogases food waste and agricultural manure release as
they decompose can be captured in sealed tanks called anaerobic
digesters (ADs) and used to generate local power and heat and/or be
refined into renewable natural gas (RNG), the lowest-carbon fuel
available.
RNG can be used in all the same ways as fossil gas but has
drastically lower greenhouse gas emissions. When made in ADs from
food scraps or manure RNG is "net carbon-negative" over its
lifecycle, since more GHG is captured by making it than is emitted
when burning it – a big net gain for the climate.
Building about 4,700 new ADs (700 to process municipal and
industrial food waste and 4,000 to process dairy and swine manure)
could cut U.S. methane an additional 13.6%, the report finds. Total
capital cost would be about $74
billion, some of which is available in tax credits and other
financing under the Inflation Reduction Act. Digesters take two to
six years per project to build.
"ADs are low-hanging fruit that haven't received the attention
they deserve," said Michael
Lerner, Energy Vision's director of research and
publications. "They are the missing piece that can get us the rest
of the way to 30x30."
"Energy Vision's report will be a very useful publication," said
Durwood Zaelke, founder and
president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable
Development. "Methane is the blowtorch that is pushing the
climate from global warming to global boiling. We need to turn
this blowtorch off immediately to have the best chance to
keep the planet safe."
"With NSPS we have a credible pathway to cutting methane
emissions from oil and gas, but we need comparable ways to cut
methane from landfills and agriculture," said Matthew Tomich, president of Energy Vision.
"ADs are an incredibly impactful, commercial, and cost-effective
option. They can help slash methane emissions across more sectors,
enabling the U.S. and other countries to reach the 30x30 goal and
bend the curve on climate change."
Contact: Stephen Kent,
skent@kentcom.com, 914-589-5988
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SOURCE Energy Vision