President Biden hails “real progress” on methane reduction
US president, Joe Biden, used the platform at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference on November 2 to present a new methane emissions reduction action plan.
In a press conference that formed part of the Presidency Programme at the conference in Glasgow, President Biden said that 100 nations had signed a pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030. “We’re making real progress,” the president remarked.
On the same day, the US’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and department of agriculture (USDA) announced specific proposals to reduce US methane emissions in oil and gas, landfills and agriculture.
According to EPA figures, 30% of US methane emissions between 1990 and 2019 came from oil and gas, 27% from enteric fermentation on cattle farms, 17% from landfill sites and 10% from manure management.
In the cross-government proposals, which together make up the US Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, is the idea of setting up a new public-private partnership specifically to help reduce methane emissions in agriculture and scale up on-farm generation and use of biogas as renewable energy.
USDA will take the lead in addressing agricultural methane quantification and reporting. In particular, USDA’s research agencies will conduct and sponsor research to assess the efficacy of methane reduction technologies, including feed additives and manure management systems.
Grants to help livestock farmers introduce novel alternative feedstuffs could become available as part of the plan.
IMAGE: The White House.
