The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $35 million for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, aiming to develop technologies to reduce methane emissions in the oil, gas, and coal industries.
Under the ARPA-E’s “Reducing Emissions of Methane Every Day of the Year” (REMEDY) program, the funding opportunity will support projects that can be replicated easily and commercialized quickly to cut methane accumulation in the atmosphere and mitigate the effects of climate change.
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The initiative comes as recent EIA estimates show that methane -a greenhouse gas emitted across the value chain of natural gas, coal, and crude oil- makes up nearly 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions every year, with the energy sector being one of the largest sources of US methane emissions.
Methane is the second-largest source of greenhouse gases, many times more potent than carbon dioxide—that’s why it’s crucial we develop solutions to decrease these emissions at their source,
…said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
More specifically, the REMEDY program will address three target methane production sources in the oil, gas, and coal value chain:
- Exhaust from natural gas-fired lean-burn engines used to drive compressors, generate electricity, and increasingly repower ships;
- Flares required for safe operation of oil and gas facilities; and
- Coal mine ventilation air methane (VAM) exhausted from operating underground mines.
REMEDY seeks to directly address the more than 50,000 engines, 300,000 flares, and 250 mine shafts that are producing methane emissions.
Potential projects under REMEDY should be able to operate in generation spaces where very-low methane concentrations are common, for integration into complete oil, gas and coal generation systems that can quantify emission reductions while ensuring consistent system operations.
Earlier in 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) issued a ten-step roadmap for policymakers to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas, unveiling this as among the most cost-effective and impactful actions that governments can take to achieve global climate goals.
