Methane Management – An Economic Opportunity for Mitigation (Booklet - December 2015)
Proper management of methane from source to use in extractive industries will be an effective means of reducing emissions of an intensive greenhouse gas and short lived climate pollutant. Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas. In terms of the radiative forcing, it is around 30 times more potent than CO2. While account must be taken of the respective residence times of CO2 and methane in determining the actual contributions to the greenhouse effect, it is generally recognised that using methane instead of emitting it into the atmosphere accrues a net actual benefit from a climate change mitigation perspective. About 60% of global methane emissions are due to human activities. The main sources of anthropogenic methane emissions are the oil and gas industries, agriculture (including fermentation, manure management, and rice cultivation), landfills, wastewater treatment, and emissions from coal mines. Fossil fuel production, distribution and use are estimated to emit 110 million tonnes of methane annually.