We had Juliana Merullo and Harrison Katz from our Possibly team look into what’s being done to reduce these emissions.
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet, and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Normally when we talk about emissions, we’re talking about carbon dioxide. But recently there’s been more focus on another greenhouse gas, methane.
We had Juliana Merullo and Harrison Katz from our Possibly team look into what’s being done to reduce these emissions.
Juliana Merullo: Hiya Megan!
Harrison Katz: Hello!
Megan Hall: So, first, give me a refresher on methane. I know it’s a really potent greenhouse gas, but where does it come from?
Juliana Ok- Methane gasses come from a lot of different sources, but the biggest are oil and gas production. After that, it’s cows.
Harrison Katz: You might not know from the clever branding, but “natural gas” is just methane. And it leaks into the air all along the supply chain, from getting it out of the ground, to delivering it, to using it in our homes and businesses.
Megan Hall: Got it. So, why have I been seeing methane in the headlines recently? What’s changed?
Juliana Merullo: Basically, the federal government is cracking down on methane emissions. That includes new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA.
Megan Hall: What are the new rules?
Harrison Katz: To find out, we talked to Kyle Daniels, CEO of Clarke Valves in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. He says,
Kyle Daniels: “the most important change of the new EPA regulations is that all oil and gas producers, both household names, and small producers, will all have to meet the same regulations”
Juliana Merullo: And that could make a big difference. According to a recent study, small producers supply only 6% of the nation’s oil and gas, but they cause 50% of the methane emissions from this sector.
Harrison Katz: And because of the Inflation Reduction Act that passed last summer, companies have to pay a fine if they don’t plug their leaks.
Megan Hall: How big are the fines?
Juliana Merullo: the fees would start at $900 per ton and increase to $1500 per ton by 2026.
Megan Hall: Is that a significant amount?
Juliana Merullo: if you add up all of the current leaks across the country, they’re estimated to bring in over a billion dollars in fees.
Harrison Katz: Which is a lot of money, but let’s put that in perspective- ExxonMobil and BP, the two biggest gas producers in the United States, reported close to $40 billion in profits just in 2022.
Megan Hall: Ok, so let’s say I’m a gas company and I don’t want to pay those fines. What do I do to control my leaks?
Juliana Merullo: It’s pretty simple- the technology to detect leaks is widely available, and it’s already in use.
Harrison Katz: Once companies find those leaks, it’s just a matter of updating infrastructure to fix them, and investing in new technology to reduce leaks in the first place.
Juliana Merullo:- For example, Kyle’s company makes zero-emissions valves. Think of movies you might have seen as a kid, where the doors on a spaceship open and close in a tight spiral, like a camera shutter!
Harrison Katz: This means that when the valve is closed, there’s a super tight seal that doesn’t let any methane leak out.
Juliana Merullo: Kyle says it’s a great option for companies who want to avoid those fines.
Kyle Daniels: “If you don’t leak any methane, you won’t have any fees.”
Harrison Katz: And he’s not the only one working on methane leak solutions- there are plenty of other companies looking into this.
Juliana Merullo: Plus, there’s funding available to buy this technology. The Inflation Reduction Act also includes more than a billion dollars in EPA grants to help repair leaky methane supply chains.
Megan Hall: So it sounds like if there is a will to stop some of these leaks, there is a way.
Juliana Merullo: Yes, like many of the issues around climate change, we have the technology. Now we just need to use it,
Megan Hall: Awesome, Thanks Juliana and Harrison!
That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also follow us on facebook and twitter- at “ask possibly”
Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio, Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative.
The post What is the US doing to reduce methane emissions? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio.