NEW ENERGY VISION REPORT OFFERS FIRST DATA-DRIVEN, COST-EFFECTIVE ROADMAP FOR CUTTING U.S. METHANE EMISSIONS 30% BY 2030

NEW YORK, May 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The non-profit Energy Vision today published its report, "Meeting the Methane Challenge: How the U.S. Can Reach Its 2030 Goal." The Global Methane Pledge commits the U.S. and other countries to cutting methane emissions 30% by 2030 ("30x30"). Methane is 87 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over 20 years and has caused a third of modern global warming.

On May 7, EPA's New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) tightening methane requirements for oil and gas production took effect. If fully implemented by 2029, the NSPS would cut U.S. methane emissions by 17.5%, Energy Vision's report finds. The report identifies a complementary strategy that could go the rest of the way to 30x30: anaerobic digestion of organic waste.

Methane biogases food waste and agricultural manure release as they decompose can be captured in sealed tanks called anaerobic digesters (ADs) and used to generate local power and heat and/or be refined into renewable natural gas (RNG), the lowest-carbon fuel available.

RNG can be used in all the same ways as fossil gas but has drastically lower greenhouse gas emissions. When made in ADs from food scraps or manure RNG is "net carbon-negative" over its lifecycle, since more GHG is captured by making it than is emitted when burning it – a big net gain for the climate.

Building about 4,700 new ADs (700 to process municipal and industrial food waste and 4,000 to process dairy and swine manure) could cut U.S. methane an additional 13.6%, the report finds. Total capital cost would be about $74 billion, some of which is available in tax credits and other financing under the Inflation Reduction Act. Digesters take two to six years per project to build.

"ADs are low-hanging fruit that haven't received the attention they deserve," said Michael Lerner, Energy Vision's director of research and publications. "They are the missing piece that can get us the rest of the way to 30x30."

"Energy Vision's report will be a very useful publication," said Durwood Zaelke, founder and president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. "Methane is the blowtorch that is pushing the climate from global warming to global boiling. We need to turn this blowtorch off immediately to have the best chance to keep the planet safe."

"With NSPS we have a credible pathway to cutting methane emissions from oil and gas, but we need comparable ways to cut methane from landfills and agriculture," said Matthew Tomich, president of Energy Vision. "ADs are an incredibly impactful, commercial, and cost-effective option. They can help slash methane emissions across more sectors, enabling the U.S. and other countries to reach the 30x30 goal and bend the curve on climate change."

Contact: Stephen Kent, [email protected], 914-589-5988

SOURCE Energy Vision