Methane emissions
Global methane emissions are major part of global greenhouse gas emissions. Methane in the atmosphere has an estimated 100-year global warming potential of 34, meaning that a ton of methane emitted into the atmosphere creates approximately 34 times the atmospheric warming as a ton of carbon dioxide over a period of 100 years. Atmospheric methane concentrations have reached almost two-and-a-half times pre-industrial levels or 3.2 billion tons. Though methane traps far more heat than the same mass of carbon dioxide, it remains in the atmosphere only about a decade, while carbon dioxide potentially warms for a much longer time period assuming no change in rates of carbon sequestration. On a 20-year timescale, a mass of methane is about 85 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the Earth, but on a 100-year timescale, it is projected to be only about 28-34 times more powerful, on the assumption the carbon dioxide will not be sequestered and will continue to warm the earth for decades after the methane is gone.
60 percent of methane emissions are caused by humans and livestock animals, while natural sources such as wetlands cause about 40 percent of methane emissions. Human sources include agriculture, especially animal agriculture and rice production, waste, and fugitive emissions from industry including the energy sector. Grazing animals such as cattle and sheep along with other livestock animals cause at least 30 percent of unnatural methane emissions. Fugitive emissions from oil, natural gas and coal contributes about 25 to 34 percent of unnatural methane emissions. Human waste including landfill and wastewater cause about 18 percent of unnatural methane emissions. Rice production causes about 7 to 20 percent of unnatural emissions. Wetlands make up about 30 percent while natural sources other than wetlands account for about 10 percent. This includes emissions near oil and gas deposits unrelated to human activity, volcanic activity, and emissions by termites.
Anthropogenic
sources:- Industrial agriculture, see also: climate change and agriculture
- *Enteric fermentation from livestock
- *Rice paddies
- Fossil fuels, up to 30-45% of atmospheric methane
- *Oil extraction
- **Gas venting
- **Fugitive gas emissions
- *Coal mining
- **Gas venting
- **Coalbed methane
- *Natural gas extraction
- **Gas venting
- **Pipeline transport
- **Gas leaks
- Municipal solid waste
- *Landfill gas
- Municipal wastewater
Natural sources
- Wetland methane emissions
- Aerobic methane production
- Arctic methane emissions, ?
- Termite enteric fermentation emissions
National reduction policies
China implemented regulations requiring coal plants to either capture methane emissions or convert methane into CO2 in 2010. According to a Nature Communications paper published in January 2019, methane emissions instead increased 50 percent between 2000 and 2015.In March 2020, Exxon called for tighter methane regulations, which would include detection and repair of leaks, minimization of venting and releases of unburned methane, and reporting requirements for companies.
By country
Country | 1970 | 2012 |
10,202 | 13,763 | |
1,764 | 2,644 | |
12,857 | 48,527 | |
7 | 13 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
23,377 | 18,974 | |
24 | 43 | |
84,918 | 88,476 | |
1,318 | 3,426 | |
10 | 23 | |
94,291 | 125,588 | |
9,022 | 8,007 | |
6,398 | 19,955 | |
94 | 227 | |
791 | 3,379 | |
91,305 | 105,142 | |
100 | 109 | |
12,125 | 16,620 | |
14,123 | 9,243 | |
96 | 228 | |
3,461 | 6,983 | |
20 | 31 | |
698 | 1,770 | |
16,509 | 23,231 | |
3,174 | 3,140 | |
5,232 | 4,448 | |
207,737 | 477,077 | |
13 | 19 | |
1,615 | 4,539 | |
9,940 | 11,794 | |
4,613 | 14,957 | |
1,469 | 2,719 | |
46 | 151 | |
20,087 | 35,915 | |
8,286 | 18,516 | |
67,296 | 106,847 | |
12 | 29 | |
28,890 | 85,677 | |
8,043 | 18,364 | |
Channel Islands | n.a. | n.a. |
10,913 | 18,381 | |
781,088 | 1,752,290 | |
36,921 | 67,979 | |
142 | 284 | |
119,583 | 75,336 | |
6,677 | 7,156 | |
2,599 | 2,315 | |
7,803 | 16,266 | |
2,986 | 4,708 | |
13,600 | 8,560 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
341 | 642 | |
17,963 | 11,902 | |
7,692 | 7,603 | |
149 | 634 | |
16 | 41 | |
3,787 | 6,861 | |
6,621 | 15,786 | |
20,778 | 51,977 | |
2,239 | 3,032 | |
76 | 2,959 | |
1,797 | 2,894 | |
2,208 | 2,235 | |
32,687 | 64,481 | |
30 | 39 | |
416 | 715 | |
9,972 | 8,552 | |
82,882 | 81,179 | |
41 | 99 | |
876 | 3,894 | |
495 | 1,039 | |
3,493 | 5,019 | |
126,692 | 55,721 | |
5,230 | 21,078 | |
3 | 7 | |
5,872 | 8,255 | |
18 | 29 | |
25 | 37 | |
30 | 71 | |
3,217 | 6,877 | |
7,148 | 28,654 | |
542 | 1,421 | |
2,066 | 2,124 | |
2,956 | 4,587 | |
2,552 | 5,844 | |
704 | 3,147 | |
10,395 | 7,135 | |
308 | 359 | |
398,212 | 636,396 | |
126,665 | 223,316 | |
52,013 | 121,298 | |
19,682 | 24,351 | |
10,170 | 14,330 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
1,301 | 3,416 | |
40,488 | 35,238 | |
821 | 1,316 | |
101,804 | 38,957 | |
362 | 2,115 | |
68,238 | 71,350 | |
12,009 | 28,027 | |
5 | 16 | |
15,007 | 18,983 | |
25,949 | 32,625 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
21,910 | 12,691 | |
4,561 | 4,291 | |
6,976 | 15,011 | |
3,323 | 3,181 | |
545 | 1,150 | |
1,130 | 1,287 | |
493 | 1,586 | |
29,695 | 18,495 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
4,584 | 4,806 | |
714 | 1,169 | |
49 | 151 | |
2,033 | 1,396 | |
15,194 | 20,070 | |
3,189 | 4,629 | |
14,317 | 34,271 | |
13 | 52 | |
8,281 | 18,042 | |
98 | 141 | |
2 | 8 | |
3,157 | 6,082 | |
169 | 311 | |
60,999 | 116,705 | |
17 | 30 | |
2,068 | 3,456 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
6,735 | 6,257 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
8,486 | 12,012 | |
12,793 | 9,968 | |
75,254 | 80,637 | |
4,004 | 5,097 | |
1 | 3 | |
17,364 | 23,982 | |
20,204 | 19,026 | |
180 | 215 | |
25,054 | 28,658 | |
4,007 | 6,492 | |
5,185 | 6,858 | |
35,196 | 89,782 | |
2 | 12 | |
6,866 | 16,409 | |
4,571 | 16,858 | |
56,503 | 158,337 | |
1 | 1 | |
2,324 | 3,378 | |
948 | 2,143 | |
10,145 | 16,246 | |
13,704 | 19,321 | |
43,211 | 57,170 | |
97,174 | 65,071 | |
6,731 | 12,976 | |
1,277 | 2,406 | |
4,776 | 41,124 | |
32,425 | 25,708 | |
338,496 | 545,819 | |
1,302 | 2,942 | |
63 | 133 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
17 | 46 | |
31,740 | 62,903 | |
4,605 | 9,928 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
9 | 24 | |
2,554 | 3,352 | |
658 | 2,386 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
4,574 | 4,075 | |
2,099 | 2,822 | |
1,631 | 1,449 | |
9,542 | 16,206 | |
32,270 | 63,156 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
26,509 | 37,208 | |
11,338 | 11,864 | |
26 | 30 | |
28 | 44 | |
n.a. | n.a. | |
23 | 40 | |
31,752 | 96,531 | |
941 | 709 | |
921 | 1,377 | |
10,082 | 10,304 | |
4,878 | 4,900 | |
2,425 | 12,783 | |
2,814 | 5,408 | |
25,218 | 27,994 | |
71,444 | 106,499 | |
412 | 732 | |
2,056 | 5,343 | |
32 | 61 | |
1,596 | 14,789 | |
2,531 | 7,647 | |
32,789 | 78,853 | |
10,821 | 22,009 | |
1 | 6 | |
2 | 3 | |
8,565 | 21,161 | |
74,352 | 68,061 | |
12,873 | 26,120 | |
120,054 | 58,980 | |
594,255 | 499,809 | |
14,524 | 19,549 | |
16,831 | 47,333 | |
128 | 254 | |
35,151 | 58,199 | |
54,145 | 113,564 | |
Virgin Islands | 16 | 47 |
n.a. | n.a. | |
2,205 | 8,940 | |
33,881 | 6,551 | |
8,497 | 8,589 | |
World | 5,305,820 | 8,014,067 |
Removal technology
In 2019, researchers proposed a technique for removing methane from the atmosphere using zeolite. Each molecule of methane would be converted into, which has a far smaller impact on climate. Replacing all atmospheric methane with would reduce total greenhouse gas warming by approximately one-sixth.Zeolite is a crystalline material with a porous molecular structure. Powerful fans could push air through reactors of zeolite and catalysts to absorb the methane. The reactor could then be heated to form and release. At a carbon price of $500/ton, removing one ton of methane would earn $12,000.