India, United States Host Forum on Promoting Methane Capture, Use
Washington - At the second Methane to Markets Partnership Expo, hosted by the United States, India and India's Chambers of Commerce and Industry, attendees from 30 countries are considering options and comparing approaches for capturing and using methane.
Methane is a clean-burning fuel that is the main component of natural gas and an important energy source. Methane is more than 20 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, and it accounts for 16 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions from human sources.
With the potential to eliminate 17.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per year - the same as the annual greenhouse gas emissions from about 3.3 million cars - the showcased projects can provide significant clean development and climate change benefits throughout the world. Member countries and representatives from the private sector are discussing technology, economic and policy issues that could further advance methane reduction opportunities.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is representing the United States at the exposition, taking place March 2-5 in New Delhi.
"We're coming together as a global community to tackle a global challenge and move into the clean-energy future," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "The Methane to Markets Partnership is cutting greenhouse gases and providing new, clean energy options to communities and businesses around the world."
According to the EPA, significantly reducing methane emissions is one of the most cost-effective ways to realize immediate environmental benefits because of methane's potency as a greenhouse gas.
In November 2004, the United States joined 13 other countries in an agreement that formally created a partnership to advance international cooperation in recovering and using methane as a profitable source of clean energy. The Methane to Markets Partnership is part of the U.S. strategy to address climate-change issues.
The public-private partnership seeks to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by promoting the near-term development of cost-effective methane capture-and-use projects that provide a clean energy source. The partnership now includes 30 countries, the European Commission and more than 900 private-sector organizations.
Since the partnership began in 2004, it has supported more than 170 projects that have eliminated an estimated 27 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent annually - equal to the electricity use of 3.5 million homes. The partnership also has held more than 80 events in 23 countries, generated $84 million in funding for activities and projects, and attracted more than $350 million in private financing for capacity building and project development aimed at capturing and using methane.
The partnership also has developed an array of computer-based tools and information services. It organized the first Partnership Expo in Beijing in 2007, which brought together more than 700 people.
In India, the EPA launched a partnership with that nation's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in September 2008. As a result, the ONGC chairman directed his managers to implement cost-effective practices that could reduce ONGC methane emissions by an estimated 10 million cubic meters per year.
In China in 2007, the EPA launched initiatives to work with coal mines by conducting three full-scale feasibility studies at the Liuzhuang mine in Anhui province, a group of six mines in the Songzao coal basin in Chongqing, and six mines in the Hebi region of Henan province. The EPA also funded a feasibility study for a new technology that mitigates diluted methane from coal mine ventilation shafts at the Tiefa mine in Liaoning province.
In Nigeria, the EPA supported a study at the Okpara mine, where mining is expected to start again in 2010 after several years of inactivity. The mine has the potential to produce up to 363,000 metric tons of coal per year.
With the World Bank, the EPA has supported livestock waste-management projects in Southeast Asia since 2004. The World Bank provided $21 million to develop affordable pollution-control methods for livestock waste management in China, Thailand and Vietnam, and the EPA provided technical assistance needed to implement the projects.
More information about the Methane to Markets Expo ( http://www.methanetomarkets.org/expo ) is available on the expo's Web site. Additional information about the Methane to Markets Partnership ( http://www.epa.gov/methanetomarkets ) is available on the EPA Web site.
