A UK environmental think tank has stated that with a raft of inexpensive policies, methane emissions in the country could be cut by more than 40% by 2030.
Recall that the government had promised to cut emissions of methane, which is used to describe a greenhouse gas that has more than 80 times the global heating power of CO2, by at least 30% by 2030.
The move was championed by Boris Johnson when he was prime minister after the UK joined more than 100 other countries to make the pledge at Cop26 in Glasgow. However, there is yet no specific proposals have been put forward by the government for how to make the cuts.
The UK is expected to hand over the Cop presidency to Egypt before the Cop27 summit which starts on Sunday, but the lack of action by ministers risks the UK losing its reputation as a global leader in methane reductions, says the thinktank Green Alliance.
In a report on Wednesday, the country listed a series of low-cost measures, which it says could reduce methane emissions from their 2020 levels by 43%. Key to the reductions, the report said, are changes to the waste industry.
Read also: U.S, UAE sign multibillion-dollar clean energy deal
The UK could also reduce methane emissions by 19% by 2030, by bringing forward the UK’s ban on landfilling biodegradable waste to 2025 and mandating landfill operators to increase biogas capture.
As urged by the IEA (International Energy Agency), a further 9% of methane savings could come from regulating the gas industry to end methane leaks. And plugging these leaks would also rapidly increase gas supplies to the UK, supporting UK energy security.
The report further urged the government to adopt measures to cut methane in the agriculture and land use sector, which makes up more than half of the total methane produced in the UK.
In his reaction, the policy director at Green Alliance, Dustin Benton said: “Because methane emissions are accelerating the warming of the planet faster than carbon dioxide, it’s essential that both methane and carbon dioxide are cut rapidly.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
