DOE Announces Global Collaboration to Reduce Methane Emissions
U.S. Department of Energy
November 16, 2023
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.