Methane leaks from energy production, transportation infrastructures -- such as gas pipelines -- and from deliberate releases during maintenance. Photo: JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AFP/FilePlanet-heating methane released by the fossil fuel industry rose to near record highs in 2023 despite technology available to curb this pollution at virtually no cost, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.
"Emissions of methane from fossil fuel operations remain unacceptably high... There is no reason for emissions to remain as high as they are," IEA chief energy economist Tim Gould told reporters ahead of the release of the agency's annual Global Methane Tracker report. Countries and companies could slash these emissions from fossil fuels in half by 2030 if they deliver on their methane promises in full, the IEA said.
This would require about $170 billion in spending,"less than 5 percent of the income generated by the fossil fuel industry in 2023," it added.China leads for methane from coal production, while in the oil and gas sector the United States generates the most emissions, followed by In a separate study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers found that six major oil and gas regions in the US may be losing on average nearly three percent of supply as methane.