On June 25, 2013, the President issued a broad-based Climate Action Plan to cut the pollution that causes climate change and damages public health.
The plan has three key pillars: cutting domestic greenhouse gas emissions, preparing the United States for the impacts of climate change, and continuing American leadership in international efforts to combat global climatechange.
Through partnerships with industry, both at home and abroad, we have already demonstrated the technology and best practices to deliver substantial reductions in methane emissions.
These cost effective steps can deliver multiple benefits:
• Economic Benefits: Methane is the primary component of natural gas, so the recovery of methane that would otherwise be emitted can be productively used for power generation,
heating or manufacturing. In addition, projects to reduce methane emissions can put people to work and spur investment in local economies.
• Climate Change Benefits: Every ton of methane in the atmosphere has a global warming effect that is more than 20 times greater than a ton of carbon dioxide. Thus, methane reductions yield important climate benefits, particularly in the near term.
Public Health: Actions to reduce methane also improve the quality of the air we breathe. Methane is a contributor to ground level ozone, so cutting methane emissions reduces smog, which is associated with higher rates of asthma attacks.
Moreover, methane is often co-emitted with volatile organic compounds, some of which are hazardous air pollutants, and many measures can cost-effectively reduce both pollutants.
Safety: Improved safety and reduced methane emissions go hand-in-hand, as in our natural gas transmission and distributions systems and coal mining industries.
Leveraging U.S. Technical Expertise through the Global Methane Initiative:
Through the Global Methane Initiative (GMI), the United States leverages U.S. technical expertise to help partners around the world substantially reduce their methane emissions in five key sectors: agriculture; coal mines; municipal solid waste; oil and gas systems; and municipal wastewater.
GMI is a public-private initiative with 43 partner countries, including all of the top 10 leading methane emitters, and over 1,000 members of the Project Network, including private sector,
nongovernmental organizations, and multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.
GMI advances cost-effective, near-term methane recovery and use as a clean energy source, with a proven track record of helping to reduce methane emissions of over 220 million metric tons carbon dioxide since 2004, and identifying additional potential reductions that can be achieved cost-effectively.
GMI has also developed a suite of tools and resources to help overcome barriers to methane capture and recovery and has built institutional capacity in Partner countries to ensure the long-term success of these efforts.
These projects reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near term and provide important environmental, safety, and economic co-benefits.
The EPA is the lead agency from the U.S. Government and coordinates with the Department of State, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, USAID, and the Trade and Development Agency.
We encourage the study of best practices to mitigate risk and rapidly deploy solutions for the 21st century. For Cleantech funding support be sure to check click on Cleantech Grants.
Cleantech Grants
Joshua D. Mosshart BIO
Source: Climate Action Plan, Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions
United States Environmental Protection Agency
