Methane which is the second and one of the largest parts of prevailing greenhouse gas radiated in the U.S. from human activities. On 28th March, 2014 U.S. had announced that in the coming months the administration will be taking a series of actions to aim at plummeting emissions of methane. These emissions of methane which is a powerful greenhouse gas will be released by the landfills, cattle and leaks from oil and natural gas production that contributes to climate change. The U.S. has the largest greenhouse gas emitter after China.
The main component of natural gas is the Methane – a greenhouse gas which far effective than carbon dioxide. This methane strategy was a part of climate action plan which was announced by the U.S. President
Barack Obama. Approximately 9% of methane makes up for U.S emissions, however, the ecological outcome is somewhat 20 times as effective as that of the most common greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.
Another leading source of methane is cow manure and according to the White House, by the year 2020 the dairy industry and federal departments would divulge plans of June voluntary to condense the emission of the sector by 25%. Moreover, to see if there is any need for more regulations the Environmental Protection Agency will meet the experts on methane emissions from oil and gas which might be unveiled by the end of 2016.
In the current year, new standards on landfills and a separate federal body will be proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, and also regulations to reduce venting and flaring from oil and gas production on public lands will be updated by the Bureau of Land Management.
In accord to the change in the climate of United Nation in 2009, the President Barack Obama pledged that by the year 2020 the U.S. would target of cutting overall greenhouse gas emissions by 17% from 2005 levels. As per Dan Utech, a top White House adviser to Obama for energy and climate change said that this methane strategy is one component and is one set of actions the administration will be going to take to get there.
Through new rules and voluntary action by industry the plan that was outlined on 28th March aims cut emissions of methane from landfills, coal mining, agriculture, and oil and gas systems. Amid the specific actions outlined on 28th March, 2014 by the administration to address methane pollution, the Interior Department on public lands will be proposing to update the standards to lessen venting and flaring of methane from oil and gas production. For the capture and sale of methane produced by coal mines on lands leased by the federal government, the Bureau of Land Management of the Interior Department in the month of April will commence to congregate public comment on the development of a program.
To reduce emission of methane from new landfills the Environmental Protection Agency will be updating standards this summer and for the existing landfills public comments will be taken on whether to update their standards. In the month of June, a joint biogas road map will be released by the Agriculture Department, the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, aimed at accelerating adoption of methane digesters a machine which will cut the emission of methane from cattle, in order to condense dairy-sector greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by the year 2020.
Since 1990, the methane pollution had decreased by 11% even as the U.S. government had pushed for a greater reliance on natural gas, however, the methane pollution is as intense on a longer view. Hence if no action is taken to reduce methane emission then in long term by the year 2030, methane pollution is anticipated to boost to a level equivalent to over 620 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution, as per the studies made by the Obama administration points.
According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) commissioned analysis, by implementing on the existing emissions control technologies the industry could curtail the emissions of methane by 40% lower estimated 2018 levels. Moreover, the economical methane diminution opportunities would indeed save industry a combined USD 164 million/year.
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