New Methane Reduction Goals Highlight Critical Importance of MMRV Tools and Training Programs
Austin, Texas, Dec. 6, 2023 – As the international community rallies around aggressive methane reduction goals, the Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab (EEMDL) is already developing urgently needed Monitoring, Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MMRV) data-science tools and training programs.
EEMDL is focused on these capacity-building activities because the world needs better MMRV tools – and thousands of trained professionals who know how to use them – to convert methane reduction goals into real and verifiable methane cuts. A summary of EEMDL’s tools and training programs can be found here.
“Oil and gas methane mitigation is the tip of the spear when it comes to addressing greenhouse gas emissions,” 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. “Regulators in the U.S., Canada, European Union, and other countries have introduced tough new rules to reduce methane emissions. In parallel, National Oil Companies and International Oil Companies have announced their participation in voluntary initiatives and MMRV programs to address methane.”
“But methane reduction goals are only as good as the world’s capacity to track progress towards those goals,” Ravikumar continued. “That’s why EEMDL exists – to build that capacity.”
EEMDL-affiliated researchers have a full suite of MMRV models and data-science tools that are already complete or in development to address these challenges.
Completed tools include the Fugitive Emissions Abatement Simulation Toolkit (FEAST), which has already been incorporated into new EPA methane regulations, and the Methane Emissions Estimation Tool (MEET).
Tools planned for completion in 2024 include:
Emissions Event Statistics Tools
Supply Chain Emissions Assessment Tools
Continuous Monitoring Systems Tools
Operator and Basin Emissions Reconciliation Tools
EEMDL also provides technical advice and training courses tailored to international bodies, regulatory agencies, National Oil Companies (NOCs), International Oil Companies (IOCs) and others involved in methane reduction initiatives. EEMDL-affiliated experts, who are fully integrated into global research projects at the cutting-edge of this field, are uniquely positioned to offer introductory training and refresher courses on existing MMRV tools and frameworks, such as OGMP 2.0, and the next generation of MMRV tools.
In a related effort, EEMDL is also convening experts and stakeholders to answer scientific, technical and policy questions related to the growing market for differentiated gas, or natural gas that is produced, processed and delivered with low greenhouse gas emissions. The Differentiated Gas Technical Road Mapping Initiative, launched in September 2023, will help inform public and private sector officials across major natural gas exporting and importing countries that have shown interest in building a globally transparent and trusted framework for differentiated gas markets.
EEMDL was launched in January 2023 by the University of Texas at Austin, Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Mines to develop and deploy MMRV tools that are transparent, peer-reviewed, and trusted by a range of stakeholders.
The need for improved MMRV tools is a persistent theme across recently announced methane reduction goals.
For example: The Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter, which includes 50 of the world’s largest NOCs and IOCs, cites the need for “[i]ncreasing transparency, including enhancing measurement, monitoring, reporting and independent verification of greenhouse gas emissions and their performance and progress in reducing emissions,” according to an official summary of the agreement.
Proposed methane regulations in the EU, which include an emissions intensity standard, will require energy companies “to properly measure, monitor, report and verify their methane emissions according to the highest monitoring standards,” according to an official European Commission statement.
The Canadian Government’s newly announced draft oil and gas methane regulation includes a $30 million investment in research to “improve our understanding and reporting of methane emissions, with a focus on collaborative initiatives to support data and measurement.”
And the U.S. Department of Energy’s international MMRV workgroup for natural gas supply chains is seeking to develop a framework in which “companies can credibly account for and verify claims regarding greenhouse emissions associated with their natural gas in the marketplace.”
“Getting to zero methane emissions across energy supply chains would be the equivalent of replacing all the cars and trucks in the world with electric vehicles – and charging those vehicles exclusively with zero-carbon sources of electricity,” said David Allen, EEMDL Co-Director and the Norbert Dittrich-Welch Chair in Chemical Engineering at UT Austin.
“Such a feat could accomplish decades of climate progress in a matter of years,” Allen continued. “But governments and private-sector entities need better MMRV tools to identify and prioritize the biggest methane reduction opportunities and track their progress with credibility and transparency.”
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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