Methane and Coal: The European Union’s drive to cut down emissions
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
In late October, as part of the recent G20 Summit and with the support of the European Union, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a new methane observatory, as part of its aim to drive action on reducing emissions of greenhouse gas.
While much of the conversation surrounding COP26 has focused on coal, it is important to also remember that methane emissions, in particular, are responsible for as much as a quarter of current global warming. The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, highlighted the danger of methane emissions in this respect, while the UNEP’s Executive Director, Inger Andersen, stressed the importance of strong actions in this field along with actions to decarbonise the energy system if we are to limit warming to 1.5C, and truly achieve the goals set for 2030 (slashing emissions by 30%) and 2050 (net zero).
The methane observatory will gather direct measurement data from scientific studies, remote sensing, national inventories and reporting. In addition to this, more than 30 countries that have joined the EU and US-led Global Methane Pledge initiative will be monitored.
The fossil fuels industry also needs close observation, and improvements must be made towards new solutions, as this sector is responsible for a third of human-made emissions (and at the same time, has the highest potential for reductions).
Smart cities around the globe already have these issues on their agendas, as digitalisation and smart infrastructures have opened up a range of new opportunities. By 2024, 83 billion connected devices and sensors are projected to create large and diverse datasets across a wide range of areas including energy consumption, air quality, and traffic patterns. Next-generation energy systems can benefit from the use of this data in order to reduce energy consumption, improve network stability, and better manage urban services. And as growing percentages of the world’s population are expected to live in cities vs rural areas over the coming decades, smart use of energy, and transition to cleaner sources (and resources) are going to play a key part - which is also why investment in green infrastructures is key for our future.
About 40% of methane comes from natural sources such as wetlands, but most of it now comes from a variety of human activities, from agriculture such as livestock and rice production to landfills. The speed with which the world has moved to tackle methane emissions gives reassurance that we are finally waking up to this hugely problematic threat, and we need to ensure that we carry on in that direction. Smart governance, planning and leadership are going to play an increasingly growing role in this.
Cities are the world's economic engine, and the solutions they seek combine new synergies that reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency, improve resilience, and provide us all with a cleaner and richer future that also transforms the energy landscape. Through strong cooperation and knowledge-sharing networks across cities and countries, this is all entirely possible.
