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This week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report showing that methane emissions from the energy sector remained near record highs in 2023.
Methane emissions from human activities such as oil and natural gas production, agriculture, and landfills are relatively short-lived in the atmosphere but many times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
They have driven about a third of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution.
Production and use of fossil fuels put more than 120 million metric tons of methane into the atmosphere last year, a slight rise over 2022, the IEA report said.
Large methane plumes from leaky fossil fuel infrastructure also jumped by 50% in 2023 compared with 2022, the IEA report said. One super-emitting event, detected by satellites, was a well blowout in Kazakhstan that lasted more than 200 days.
The rising emissions come as the world’s biggest oil and gas companies set varying targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations and the combustion of the products they sell.
Direct comparisons of the oil companies’ climate plans are difficult as they emphasize different approaches with regards to intensity-based targets and how to include greenhouse gasses from the combustion of their fuels – known as Scope 3 emissions.
For example, this week, Shell weakened a 2030 carbon reduction target and scrapped a 2035 objective, citing expectations for strong gas demand and uncertainty in the energy transition even as it affirmed a plan to cut emissions to net zero by 2050.
Shell’s retreat follows a similar move by rival BP last year as many governments around the world slow down the roll out of climate policies and delay targets amid high energy costs and supply concerns.
