EEMDL Launches Road Mapping Initiative to Build Trust in Methane Data Quality for Differentiated Gas Markets
Austin, Texas, September 28, 2023 – The Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab (EEMDL), an initiative of three U.S. universities to improve the accuracy of greenhouse gas emissions measurement and accounting, is convening a new stakeholder process focused on building a globally transparent and trusted framework for differentiated gas markets.
The stakeholder process, known as the Differentiated Gas Technical Road Mapping Initiative, will help inform public and private sector officials across major natural gas exporting and importing countries that have shown interest in expanding the global market for low methane emissions natural gas.
“Mitigating methane emissions from global energy supply chains represents a fast and cost-effective means to address the immediate impacts of climate change,” said Arvind Ravikumar, EEMDL Co-Director and a faculty member of the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. “By enhancing scientific and technical foundations to produce accurate emissions data across global natural gas supply chains, a global differentiated gas market can further accelerate global methane emissions reductions in the energy sector.”
The goals of the Road Mapping Initiative are as follows:
Gather and synthesize data and insights from key technical experts in academia, think tanks, NGOs and the private sector.
Provide relevant, timely and focused input regarding these findings and insights for use by differentiated gas stakeholders, with a focus on technical relevance of LNG exporting and importing countries to develop a shared differentiated gas framework.
Prepare and publish scholarly articles, whitepapers and other publications to make these data and insights accessible to the full range of interested public and private stakeholders.
The Differentiated Gas Technical Road Mapping Initiative was formed to continue the work of a workshop in July 2023, which was convened by EEMDL and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
The Road Mapping Initiative will consist of a series of focused work groups, based on scientific, technical and policy questions identified during the EEMDL/CSIS workshop. The five work groups that are being launched as part of the Road Mapping Initiative include:
Data Quality Indicators and Uncertainty Estimates
Measurements, Reconciliation, and Reporting
Supply Chain Integration and Life-cycle Assessment
Verification, Certification, and Governance of an Effective Global Differentiated Gas Framework
Market Mechanisms Necessary to Unlock Differentiated Gas
An organizational meeting for the Differentiated Gas Road Mapping Initiative will be held in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 10, 2023, immediately preceding EEMDL’s Annual Event on Oct. 11-12. The focused work groups will then meet periodically to develop technical guidance documents, state-of-the-science reviews, and other materials that will support the development of a technical and governance framework for the global differentiated gas market.
The first public outputs of this initiative will be released by January 2024 and will include:
A peer-reviewed state-of-the-science review paper focused on suborbital (aerial, drone, trucks, etc.) methane measurement and quantification technologies.
A peer-reviewed state-of-the-science review paper on quantitative uncertainty estimation in developing measurement-informed inventories.
A peer-reviewed study that develops approaches to integrate uncertainty across measurements to determine an overall supply chain uncertainty.
“A differentiated gas and LNG market has the potential to deliver progress on the twin goals of energy security and climate change, but the market must be designed carefully to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past,” said Ben Cahill, CSIS Senior Fellow in Energy Security and Climate Change. “Carbon offset markets struggled to gain trust because of exaggerated claims, a confusing mix of standards, and weak rules for monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions reductions. Building a credible system to track emissions across gas supply chains is within reach, but for a differentiated gas market to truly work, stakeholders from across the spectrum will need to agree on the right principles and work together to fill gaps in that system.”
ABOUT EEMDL
The Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab (EEMDL) is a multi-disciplinary research and education center with a mission to be the global data and analytics hub to support improved greenhouse gas emissions accounting across energy supply chains.
Media and stakeholder contact:
Simon Lomax, EEMDL Director of External Relations
+1 202-379-6971 (c)
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