Federally funded research provides foundation for future Methane Pledge efforts

The Global Methane Pledge, which was launched formally on November 2 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), will provide further support for the type of work already being done by federally funded researchers to quantify methane emissions and identify ways to reduce them. Federal agencies and laboratories supporting Pledge precursor work include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), and multiple Department of Energy national laboratories.

The Pledge is an initiative to reduce global methane emissions to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach. More than 100 countries representing 70% of the global economy and nearly half of anthropogenic methane emissions have now signed onto the pledge, according to a press release by the U.S. Department of State.

Countries joining the Global Methane Pledge commit to a collective goal of reducing global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030 and moving toward using the best available inventory methodologies to quantify methane emissions, with a particular focus on high emission sources.

The problematic nature of methane emissions is no secret among federal labs and their partners, many of whom are already working to assess the scope of the problem and ways to counteract it. A sampling of recent efforts includes:

EPA

* The EPA on November 2 proposed comprehensive new protections to sharply reduce pollution from the oil and natural gas industry – including, for the first time, reductions from existing sources nationwide. The proposed new Clean Air Act rule would lead to significant, cost-effective reductions in methane emissions and other health-harming air pollutants that endanger nearby communities. Read more: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/us-sharply-cut-methane-pollution-threat...

NOAA

* An eight-year study of Boston’s natural gas system, published in late October, has revealed that emissions of methane are approximately six times higher than previously estimated. The research was supported by NOAA's Climate Program Office and was conducted by scientists from NOAA, Harvard University, Boston University, and the Environmental Defense Fund. Read more: https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2804/Urban-areas-...

* An analysis published in May 2021 shows that microbial sources - like wetlands, landfills and livestock - are fueling the rise of atmospheric methane. The research team was led by Xin Lan, a scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Studies (CIRES), which is a partnership between NOAA and Colorado University Boulder. Read more: https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2769/New-analysis...

USDA NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE (NIFA)

Research funded by USDA-NIFA shows that a small change to cattle’s diets reduces the animals’ methane emissions.

* In a University of Florida study, the dietary supplement urea for encapsulated calcium-ammonium nitrate (eCAN) led to an 11% decrease in methane emissions. That study was published in August 2020. Read more: https://nifa.usda.gov/announcement/scientists-work-cut-greenhouse-gases-...

* In a Pennsylvania State University study, the addition of 3-Nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP) to the feed of dairy cows reduced their enteric methane emissions by about 25%. That study was published in November 2019. Read more: https://nifa.usda.gov/announcement/feed-supplement-dairy-cows

NASA

* NASA researchers combine the data from missions like the Arctic Boreal and Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) and the California Methane Survey with their knowledge of how methane behaves in the atmosphere to create methane computer models. These models can help scientists and policy makers understand past, current, and future atmospheric methane patterns. Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/esnt/nasa-at-your-table-where-...

* A month-long airborne study by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, The University of Arizona, and Arizona State University found that fixing the most persistent leaks in the Permian Basin oilfield’s infrastructure could cut methane emissions by 55 tons an hour - the equivalent of 5.5% of all methane emissions from oil and gas production in the U.S. The findings were published in June 2021. Read more: https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3087/study-identifies-methane-super-emitte...

LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY

* A research team that included scientists from Berkeley Lab's Recent Earth and Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) found that the economic harms of methane emissions can vary greatly between industrialized and developing regions of the world. Their study was published in April 2021. Read more: https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2021/04/21/in-calculating-the-social-cost-of-...

* Berkeley Lab researchers are part of a team developing a low-cost, high-tech approach to pinpoint and monitor large methane emitters in California, hoping to bring about rapid emissions reduction. Collaborators include Stanford University, University of California Riverside, the Central California Asthma Collaborative, Scientific Aviation, and Bluefield. Read more: https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2019/05/21/berkeley-lab-project-to-pinpoint-m...

IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY (INL)

* INL researchers have explored ways to produce biogas or biomethane, a natural gas substitute, from the methane emitted at Idaho’s dairies. A collaboration with the German Biomass Research Center found that about 45% of Idaho's dairy manure could be used to produce biogas in methane plants; those findings were published in July 2018. Read more: https://inl.gov/article/biogas-from-idaho-dairies/

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY (ORNL)

* A team led by ORNL and the University of Michigan has discovered that certain bacteria can steal an essential compound from other microbes to break down methane in the environment, suggesting that these microorganisms could be manipulated to reduce emissions of methane. The findings were published in July 2021. Read more: https://www.ornl.gov/news/microbial-theft-enables-breakdown-methane-toxi...

PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY (PNNL)

* Researchers from PNNL and West Virginia University (WVU), in collaboration with industry partners Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) and C4-MCP, have developed a process that converts methane into hydrogen while emitting zero carbon dioxide. The findings were published in February 2021. Read more: https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/new-clean-energy-process-converts-methan...

Learn more about the Global Methane Pledge: https://www.state.gov/united-states-european-union-and-partners-formally...