Rising methane emissions could be more recovered, IEA warns

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas.

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Methane emissions linked to the oil, gas and coal sectors did not reach the peak of 2019, but still increased by 5% in 2021 year on year according to a report by the International Agency for the energy (IEA).

Emissions that would be 70% higher than the figures transmitted by the States to the UN.

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The International Energy Agency calls for more transparency.

However, this difference in assessment is not a surprise for an expert who explains that the States declare the emissions to the UN according to a dated protocol and which does not take all the hazards into account. 

However, the costing is not a detail: the fossil fuel sector is responsible for no less than 40% of methane emissions.

Emissions caused by discharges or leaks related to the extraction or transport of these raw materials.

This gas, 25 times more powerful than CO2 but which lasts less time in the atmosphere, is responsible for 30% of the rise in temperatures since the industrial revolution,

recalls the IEA in this new report

.

Last year, if all the methane released had been recovered and sold, the market would have benefited from an additional 180 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

This is the equivalent of the gas needed for the electricity sector in Europe!

Not all producers emit in the same quantities.

Texas and Turkmenistan are particularly singled out, among other things, by satellite data.

On the contrary, Norway is held up as an example to be followed by the IEA. 

The Agency also encourages States to take measures that could reduce emissions from oil and gas activities by half. 

Among them, the prohibition of non-emergency flaring, or the obligation to detect and repair leaks.

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