Methane is the primary component of natural gas and a greenhouse gas, meaning that its presence in the atmosphere affects Earth's temperature and climate system. A new U.S.-supported international partnership seeks to advance the recovery and use of methane as a clean energy source. The Methane to Markets Partnership is a public-private undertaking that involves 15 national governments and more than 90 organizations committed to achieving economic, environmental, and energy benefits.

Paul Gunning is chief of the Non-CO₂ Programs Branch in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Change Division.

Dina Kruger is director of the Climate Change Division in the EPA.

Launched in November 2004, the Methane to Markets Partnership is a multilateral initiative uniting public and private interests to advance the recovery and use of methane as a clean energy source.

Today, 15 national governments and more than 90 organizations are working collaboratively to advance project development in three major methane emission source areas: landfills, underground coal mines, and natural gas and oil systems.

The partnership's activities are expected to yield significant benefits: they will reduce global methane emissions, enhance economic growth, promote energy security, improve air quality, and enhance industrial safety.

The Importance of Methane

Methane is a hydrocarbon and the primary component of natural gas as well as a potent greenhouse gas. Globally, a large amount of methane is emitted to the atmosphere rather than being recovered and used for fuel. About 60 percent of global methane emissions come from the anthropogenic (human-generated) sources noted below—landfills, mines, and gas and oil operations—and from agriculture. The rest are from natural sources, mainly wetlands, gas hydrates (crystalline solids made up of methane molecules, each surrounded by water molecules), permafrost, and termites.

China, India, the United States, Brazil, Russia, and other Eurasian countries are responsible for almost half of all anthropogenic methane emissions. Methane emission sources vary significantly among countries. For example, the two key sources of methane emissions in China are coal mining and rice production. Russia emits most of its methane from natural gas and oil systems; India's primary sources are rice and livestock production; and landfills are the largest source of U.S. methane emissions.

Methane is the main component of natural gas and an important clean energy source. It also accounts for 16 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities. Methane is considered a potent greenhouse gas because, kilogram for kilogram, it is 23 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a 100-year time period.

Methane is a short-lived greenhouse gas, with an atmospheric lifetime of about 12 years. Because of these unique properties, reducing global methane emissions could have a rapid and significant positive effect on atmospheric warming and yield important economic and energy benefits.

Methane-Reduction Opportunities

Sources for which recovery and use of methane gas for energy is viable include coal mining, oil and gas systems, landfills and animal manure. Below are some methane recovery and use options for these sources:

• Coal mines. To reduce explosion hazards, methane is removed from underground mines before, during, or after mining. Natural gas pipeline injection, power production, and vehicle fuel are all profitable uses for methane from coal mines.

• Landfills. The principal approach to reducing methane emissions from landfills involves collecting and burning or using landfill gas. Landfill gas-use technologies focus on electricity generation and direct gas use. Electricity generation involves piping collected methane to engines or turbines. Direct-use technologies use landfill gas directly as a fuel; other technologies require that the gas be upgraded and distributed to a natural gas pipeline.

• Natural gas and oil systems. Emission reduction activities fall into three categories: technologies or equipment upgrades that reduce or eliminate equipment venting and other emissions, improvements in management practices and operational procedures, and enhanced management practices that take advantage of improved technology. In all cases, reducing methane emissions makes more gas available for sale and use.

• Manure management. Methane and other gases are produced when animal manure is managed under anaerobic (without oxygen) conditions. Methane reduction and other environmental benefits can be achieved by using anaerobic digestion systems that collect and transfer manure-generated gases to energy-producing combustion devices such as engine generators or boilers.

Even with current technology and the benefits of mitigation, methane recovery and use is not widespread for several reasons. First, methane is a secondary issue in the industrial processes that emit the gas. Coal mines, for example, want to vent methane from the mine workings because it is explosive. Mining companies have not historically viewed methane as an energy resource in its own right.

Second, those responsible for the emissions may not be familiar with the technologies available for methane recovery or the potential for profitable projects. This is especially true in developing countries, where increased information and technical training would help generate support for methane recovery projects.

Finally, poorly functioning energy markets and financially insolvent utilities and municipalities in many countries fail to attract investment from the private sector in methane capture and use projects.

Methane to Markets

Addressing these barriers to advance methane recovery and use is the focus of the Methane to Markets Partnership. Through private-public partnerships, the initiative brings together the technical and market expertise, financing, and technology necessary for project development.

Member countries work in collaboration with the private sector, multilateral development banks, and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations. The core goal is to identify and implement activities that advance methane recovery and use project development at landfills, coal mines, and oil and gas systems.

The 15 national governments, or partners, that have already committed to the partnership have signed a voluntary agreement that establishes the partnership's purpose, structure, and organization.

As part of this commitment, each partner agrees to undertake a variety of activities aimed at advancing methane recovery and use internationally in the target sectors. Each partner country manages its own financial contribution and assistance mechanisms based on its national interests and areas of expertise.

Guiding the partners' work is a steering committee supported by an administrative support group, or secretariat, housed at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C. Sector-specific subcommittees for landfills, oil and gas systems, and coal mining are also in place.

The subcommittees develop action plans that identify and address key barriers and issues for project development, address market assessment and reform issues, facilitate investment and financing opportunities, and report on progress.

They also engage organizations outside the partner governments, encouraging private-sector entities, financial institutions, and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations to build capacity, transfer technology, and promote private investment.

To this end, the partnership has created Project Network to facilitate communication and coordination among these organizations. Interested organizations can become members of the Methane to Markets Project Network by signing a one-page, nonbinding agreement that is available on the partnership's Web site. To date, more than 90 organizations have joined these efforts.

U.S. Government Commitment

The U.S. government intends to commit up to $53 million over the next five years to facilitate development and implementation of methane projects in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. These technologies will be promoted using a range of activities, such as the export of successful U.S. voluntary programs, training and capacity building, market development, feasibility assessments, and technology demonstrations.

Leveraging the efforts of fellow partner countries and the expertise and investment of the private sector and other Project Network members are other central objectives of the U.S. commitment.

EPA leads this effort for the U.S. government and will build on the success of its voluntary domestic methane partnership programs, which have reduced methane emissions in the United States as of 2004 by 10 percent below 1990 levels.

Conclusion

The Methane to Markets Partnership offers a unique opportunity for governments and organizations around the world to work together to address methane emissions while achieving economic, environmental, and energy benefits. The U.S. government believes significant progress can be made and is committed to working with its domestic and international public- and private-sector partners.

The United States estimates that Methane to Markets has the potential to deliver by 2015 annual reductions in methane emissions of up to 50 million metric tons of carbon equivalent, or recovery of 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

If achieved, these reductions could lead to stabilized or even declining levels of global atmospheric concentrations of methane. To give a sense of scale, this would be equivalent to removing 33 million cars from the roadways for one year, planting 22 million hectares of trees, or eliminating emissions from 50 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants.

Resources

EPA's Voluntary Methane Partnership Programs
http://www.epa.gov/methane

U.S. government Methane to Markets Web site
http://ww.epa.gov/methanetomarkets

Methane to Markets Partnership site
http://www.methanetomarkets.org