A massive discrepancy between the methane emissions reported by gas and coal companies in Australia and the reality means that the country’s big emitters will need to double their rates of emission cuts by 2030, says a new report from the research group IEEFA. Australian coal miners are underestimating their methane emissions by 81 per cent and gas companies by 92 per cent, says the report Gross under-reporting of fugitive methane missions has big implications for industry.

“According to the IEA estimates, Australia is currently omitting 28 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent of fugitive methane emissions from its inventory, which is about 6 per cent of its total emissions,” says IEEFA Australia CEO Amandine Denis-Ryan.

Under the Safeguard Mechanism, Australia’s 215 biggest emitters must cap carbon dioxide equivalent pollution by a reducing rate every year, with a hard cap on their total net emissions so the maximum level never exceeds today’s 140 million tonnes of CO2-e. “With such strong implications, it is critical that methane emissions under-reporting is corrected as soon as possible to provide clarity on how its impact will be managed,” the report said.

“Australia joined the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030, but did not specify a domestic methane reduction target or a plan for how it will address them.”

The new Methane Emissions Reduction Program in the US offers a carrot of financial and technical assistance to improve, and a stick of waste emissions charges starting at US$900 a metric tonne from 2024 for methane from facilities that report more than 25,000 tCO2e per year, increasing to $1,200 in 2025, and $1,500 from 2026.

  • DolphinLundgrin
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    1 year ago

    It’s astounding how far off they were with their estimates. This is methane too, which is way worse for the climate kerfuffle than CO² in the short-term.