What is methane and where does it come from? Methane is a colourless, odourless and Gas and coal mining and processing results highly flammable gas and it’s the main in large amounts of methane being leaked component of the gas we use today in or deliberately vented into the atmosphere. [...] When the direct impact of methane on the climate is added to the indirect impact from ozone on human health and the environment, a tonne of methane pollution is estimated to be between 7 and 32 times worse for us than the same amount of carbon dioxide (Azar et al. [...] This means that the of the methane pollution in the region came from warming impact of methane in the near term is grazing cattle, and 25 percent from feedlots (Luhar et dramatically understated in official government al. [...] For the gas Methane pollution from the gas industry occurs sector, reducing methane pollution is cost-effective in two main ways: unintentional leaks from wells because the cost of abatement measures is very often and pipelines along the production and distribution less than the market value of the additional gas that process, and the direct venting and flaring of gas. [...] to prevent the release of many different pollutants Venting is the intentional release of the gas to the into the air we breathe.
- Pages
- 52
- Published in
- Australia
Table of Contents
- Key findings 4
- 1. Introduction 6
- 2. What is methane and where does it come from? 8
- Methane pollution is fuelling climate change 10
- Methane pollution is rising at a record rate 12
- 3. Australia’s methane problem 14
- We may be significantly undercounting methane pollution 16
- We have new methods to track methane pollution 18
- 4. Slashing methane pollution is essential for holding global warming in check 20
- 5. Focused action on methane now can cut climate pollution from major Australian industries 21
- Opportunity #1 23
- Proper monitoring, reporting and verification of methane pollution 23
- Opportunity #2 27
- Ensure fossil fuel companies cut methane pollution while we phase out production 27
- Opportunity #3 31
- Scale up emerging solutions for cutting methane pollution from agriculture 31
- Opportunity #4 39
- Collect and process waste better to avoid more methane from landfills 39
- Opportunity #5 42
- Set clear targets for cutting methane pollution to get Australia on the right track 42
- 6. Conclusion 44
- Appendix A: International action on methane 46
- References 48
- Image credits 51
