U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ANNOUNCES GLOBAL COLLABORATION TO REDUCE METHANE EMISSIONS
International Working Group to Establish Universal Approach to Measuring, Monitoring, Reporting, and Verifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions Across the Natural Gas Supply Chain
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced an international working group to advance comparable and reliable information about greenhouse gas emissions across the natural gas supply chain to drive global emissions reductions. The working group will develop a consistent framework for the measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) of methane, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gas emissions that occur during the production, processing, transmission, liquefaction, transport, and distribution of natural gas. The MMRV Working Group’s efforts support the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious climate and clean air goals, as well as the President’s U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan and pledge that the United States will work with global partners to reduce the world’s methane emissions.
“While there is extensive activity underway within the United States and other countries to measure, monitor, report, verify, and ultimately reduce methane and carbon dioxide emissions associated with natural gas production and use, there is a pressing need to provide comparable and reliable information on emissions to the marketplace,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “The MMRV Working Group will forge agreement among importing and exporting countries on a transparent and credible framework that will help provide suppliers, buyers, investors, and policymakers the information they need to help drive continuous reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over time across the international natural gas supply chain.”
MMRV is a multi-step process to account for the intensity and volume of greenhouse gas emissions associated with specifically sourced natural gas across the domestic and international supply chain. However, there is currently no broad agreement for how companies can credibly account for and verify claims regarding greenhouse emissions associated with their natural gas in the marketplace. This limits buyers’ ability to require producers to reduce emissions and sellers’ ability to compete on the basis of a lower greenhouse gas profile.
The MMRV Working Group will create a shared and broadly credible global framework for estimating greenhouse gas emissions across the international supply chain for natural gas that can be used by both buyers and sellers, or by individual governments. With input from a diverse group of industry, environmental, and technical stakeholders from the United States and around the world, the MMRV Working Group will collaborate to develop products such as guidance, tools, and protocols for voluntary use in natural gas markets.
For more information, read the complete Public Announcement of International Working Group to Establish a Greenhouse Gas Supply Chain Emissions Measurement, Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification Framework for Providing Comparable and Reliable Information to Natural Gas Market Participants and visit FECM’s MMRV webpage.
FECM minimizes environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuels and industrial processes while working to achieve net-zero emissions across the U.S. economy. Priority areas of technology work include carbon capture, carbon conversion, carbon dioxide removal, carbon dioxide transport and storage, hydrogen production with carbon management, methane emissions reduction, and critical minerals production. To learn more, visit the FECM website, sign up for FECM news announcements, and visit the National Energy Technology Laboratory website.
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