Tackling fugitive methane (CH4) is at the heart of accelerating GHG emissions abatement. Approximately 28-34 times more potent over 20 years than CO2 and making up 25% of global GHG emissions, methane is a leading cause of rising temperatures, extreme weather, public health hazards and disease.
Cutting methane by 30% by 2030 is a core element of the global strategy against climate change.
This target aligns with energy sector interests as methane emissions represent an estimated $90B lost annual revenue opportunity for oil and gas industries.
But how do industries actually know when and where they’re emitting methane? At what rates? How do they know when emissions events began or ended?
They don’t.
When it comes to methane emissions, industries are grappling in the dark with a formidable data blind spot.
Recent studies consistently show that the 570 million tonnes of methane released every year into the atmosphere from routine venting, flaring, undetected pipeline leaks, are only the tip of the iceberg. The amount of methane emissions is actually much higher.
Recent findings include:
U.S. methane emissions along the natural gas supply chain are 60% greater than the EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI)
Five times more methane is being leaked from offshore oil and gas production in the U.K. than reported.
One natural gas leak is estimated to occur every 1.2 to 3.8 miles of pipeline in the U.S..
Approximately 12% of energy sector methane emissions are caused by undetected super-emitter events.
Massive super-emitter events in Central Asia regularly go undetected.
Methane emissions hotspots in the U.S are going by undetected or underreported.
There's not doubt that massive amounts of dangerous and costly methane are being leaked and emitted across the energy sector — especially offshore, along vast pipeline locations and in remote locations — and no one knows. The data simply isn't there for industries and governments to act. Put simply, they lack he right data, to detect, monitor and report or verify emissions on a global scale.
This data black blind spot is especially problematic as governments move forward with GHG emissions regulation and emerging carbon markets rest on the accurate quantification and verification of GHG emissions reduction.
In just over a month, the IRA methane tax of $900 per tonne beyond a 5,000 tonne permitted threshold will go into effect on January 1, 2024. This will be raised to $1500 over two years. According to the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis, this will raise $6.35 billion over the next decade. Meanwhile, in voluntary carbon markets, a reduction of 1 metric ton of methane is equivalent to 25 carbon credits representing a monetary value of $1000 to $2000 per tonne.
In the EU, member states have agreed on a new methane proposal will require oil and gas operators to report methane emissions that will be checked by independent accredited verifiers. Operators will have to detect and repair methane leaks once detected. Venting and flaring practices, which release methane into the atmosphere, will also be banned except for narrowly defined exceptional circumstances.
Without robust and accurate emissions data at their fingertips, how will governments, industries and markets make this happen?
The answer is simple: they won’t.
We’ve reached a key turning point in GHG emissions abatement. Governments, industries and carbon markets have set down the groundwork for the path to net zero and incentivized significant GHG emissions reduction.
What’s going to get us there, however, is data.
Momentick is reshaping and digitalizing emissions data by delivering robust and global emissions intelligence directly into the hands of governments, industries and partners.
Our software solution offers a one-stop shop platform for emissions data. Using a unique multi-satellite approach, our technology draws on a wide range of satellite imagery sources to autonomously detect and measure emissions over large regional areas and for specific assets and facilities. We offer three main monitoring services: pinpoint monitoring, large-scale regional monitoring, and emissions data reporting for specific locations, industries or assets. Our services all include essential historical data to know when, how and where emissions events began, developed and ended.
Our advanced solutions provide the essential emissions intelligence industries, financial institutions and governments need to detect, measure and halt emissions anytime, anywhere — solving the emissions data blind spot once and for all.