IEA says
The IEA report said for the world to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, methane releases must come down 75% by 2030—just eight years from now. The report, issued in late 2021 ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), a global climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, said better leak detection and bans on routine flaring and venting of natural gas—still a common practice in much of the world—more than 70% of methane releases from oil, gas and coal operations can be abated “at little or no cost.” Flaring is the process of burning off unwanted or associated natural gas from an oil and gas well, which when perfectly combusted, releases pure CO2 into the atmosphere. Flaring is the most powerful emitter trend in the global upstream energy industry.
The report also said methane seepage from open-pit coal mining projects, while harder to tackle relative to methane emissions, can be mitigated with better degasification and ventilation systems and by covering abandoned mines.
The Bakken shale play in North Dakota is a significant source of methane emissions in the U.S., with producers flaring and venting approximately 70% of total Bakken methane emissions.
