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Reducing Energy Waste

Methane

Slashing methane leakage from the oil and gas industry and waste management sector by boosting emissions visibility.

RMI transforms methane data into action

Methane is 80 times more potent as a global warming gas than carbon dioxide over 20 years. However, leaks of the colorless, odorless gas from oil and gas operations and waste management sites have gone largely undetected. Meanwhile, companies have long been allowed to self-report emissions. Today, RMI is increasing the visibility of oil and gas and waste sector methane emissions through an evolving network of satellites and terrestrial sensors. We’re also advancing tools to translate that data into effective policy and market-driven solutions.

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Methane emissions impose an outsize cost on our economy, society, and planet.

Preventing methane leaks from priority sectors is our greatest immediate opportunity to slash energy waste, improve energy security, and curb planetary warming.

30%

30%

Methane’s responsibility for the increase in global temperature since pre-industrial era

160

160

countries have pledged to slash methane emissions 30% by 2030

13%

13%

How much global human-caused methane will rise between 2020 and 2030 without action

Methane Initiatives

Cutting Emissions from Oil and Gas

Current greenhouse gas estimation methods grossly undercount oil and gas emissions, especially methane. We work to close these gaps and identify where the greatest climate impacts arise so that industry, policymakers, investors, and civil society actors can act now.

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Cutting Emissions from Waste Management

The waste sector accounts for almost 20% of all human-related methane emissions.  It offers a prime opportunity for strategies that not only cut emissions but also recover waste energy, improve air quality, and protect human health.

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Assessing Global Oil and Gas Emissions

The difference in methane emissions between equivalent barrels of oil and gas has been largely hidden from markets and policymakers. RMI’s Oil Climate Index plus Gas (OCI+) is a publicly available webtool allowing comparison of  life-cycle emissions intensities across global oil and gas supply chains.

 

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Measuring, Mapping, and Mitigating Global Waste Methane Emissions

The Waste Methane Assessment Platform (WasteMAP) is an accessible online tool that highlights methane emissions, mitigation opportunities, and best practices to reduce solid waste methane emissions.

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Featured Insight

Featured Insight

Drilling Down on Methane Loss

RMI is advancing a framework to correct self-reported oil and gas data. In Texas, for example, this work found that significantly more methane is wasted than is currently recorded — and this may be common practice elsewhere.

Featured Methane Resources

  • Solutions for curbing methane emissions are at the ready, especially for the oil and gas industry because there's profit to be made by not leaking methane gas. In other words, when you waste gas and you throw it into the atmosphere, you're not selling it and you’re damaging the climate.

    Deborah Gordon

    Senior Principal
    Deborah Gordon

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