Importance of Reducing Methane Emissions

Keeping climate change in control is one of the major objectives of environmental experts today. Sure, reducing the carbon footprint is an oft-repeated term with many organizations and individuals as well as the polity are intent on doing. However, an increase in methane gas levels is equally bad and may be detrimental to human health, agriculture as well as water resources. Reducing methane emissions can be your endeavor when trying to do your bit for the environment.

Sure, the amount of methane is much less compared to carbon dioxide but this toxic gas can wreak havoc on the climate and life on Earth. It is also believed to be one of the primary reasons for global warming. Finding an effective solution to tap the generation of methane at its source can be successful in improving the environmental conditions to a great extent.

How to go about reducing methane emissions?

The atmospheric life of methane is considerably shorter than that of carbon dioxide. Environment researchers and scientists advise designing targeted strategies to keep the methane emissions under control. They also advise starting on such projects immediately to achieve the set target within a few decades. The top organizations and those concerned with climate change are trying their best to reduce methane emissions by as much as 40% by 2030. Success can help benefit the climate and human health with agricultural yields increasing as well

Solutions- It is important to tackle all related problems to achieve the right solutions. Doing the following is purported to help reduce methane emissions considerably with the atmospheric methane showing a decline slowly but surely:

Agriculture

• Improved livestock feeding strategies can reduce 20% of methane emissions globally
• Intermittent aeration of flooded rice paddies continually also known as alternate wetting and drying cultivation is capable of reducing the emission from rice production by more than 30%.

Waste Management

• Banning open burning of municipal waste
• Separation and treatment of biodegradable municipal waste to convert it into compost or bio-energy
• Improvement of anaerobic digestion of solid and liquid waste with active participation by the food industry
• Diversion of organic waste
• Upgrading wastewater treatment with gas recovery and controlling the overflow
• Upgrading primary wastewater treatment
• Collection, capture, and use of landfill gas

Fossil Fuels

• Using technically feasible solutions for the mitigation of methane emissions could achieve around 65%-70% of the goal by 2030
• Ending non-emergency flaring or using high-tech and more efficient flaring practices
• Implementing mechanisms to improve infrastructure standards and methane venting practices
• Enforcement of regulatory standards for methane leak detection and repair measures
• Third-party verification must be adopted to ensure transparency and accountability of big corporations and companies operating in the coal, oil, and gas industries

Statistics also reveal the grave problem of orphaned and/or abandoned oil or gas wells across the USA. With more than 3.5 wells identified at present, these pose a serious problem to both the environment and the health of living creatures. Getting in touch with a nonprofit organization that is intent on solving the problem by plugging such wells thereby reducing methane emissions can help you to contribute to the cause effectively.