Oct 02, 2007 -- STATE DEPARTMENT RELEASE/ContentWorks
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will spend $2 million in nine
countries to fund climate-change projects that enhance the capture and use
of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.
The awards -- to projects in China, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, the Republic
of Korea, Mexico, India, Nigeria and Ukraine -- are funded through the
Methane to Markets Partnership, launched by the United States and 13 other
countries in 2004.
The most recent member, the European Commission (EC), joined in September
and brought the number of partners to 21. Together with more than 600
participating public and private organizations, the partners work on nearly
100 projects and activities around the world. (See related article.)
Paul Gunning, branch chief in the Climate Change Division at EPA, told
USINFO, the EC membership "is a good development because it brings
additional expertise into the partnership and additional commitment that
will help us grow the partnership and continue to achieve reductions in
greenhouse gases globally."
Methane accounts for 16 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. About 60
percent of methane emissions come from anthropogenic (people-generated)
sources. It is 23 times better than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the
atmosphere, and methane concentrations in the atmosphere have more than
doubled over 200 years, largely because of human activity.
About 25 percent of methane emissions and 43 percent of people-generated
emissions come from four sources that Methane to Markets targets --
agriculture (animal-waste management), coal mining, landfills and oil and
natural gas systems.
Gunning said the EC has expressed interest in partnership activities that
deal with capturing methane from coal mines and from oil and natural gas
systems. The EC will send a delegation to the Methane to Markets Exposition
in Beijing October 30-November 1 to learn more about the partnership.
The EC is the first multicountry entity to join Methane to Markets. Four EC
member countries (Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom) are already
members. In the coal sector, the EC will be able to provide more than 50
years of European Union experience in targeting methane emissions from coal
mines.
CAPTURE AND USE GRANTS
Methane not only is a greenhouse gas, it also is the main component of
natural gas and a clean-burning energy source. The EPA-funded projects
support a range of activities that help remove technical and other barriers
to methane capture and use.
With the grants, EPA is supporting a suite of activities that include
training, database development on potential project sites, feasibility
studies, technology transfer and project expositions.
"One of the more important areas is direct project assistance," Gunning
said, "so for example in Mexico we'll be working with the Border Environment
Cooperation Commission to undertake two [gas recovery and use] feasibility
studies in two cities in Mexico" -- Saltillo, Coahuila, and Hermosillo,
Sonora.
"Our expectation is that the reports that are developed and issued from
those studies will serve as a catalyst for private-sector investment to
undertake a full-scale project," Gunning said.
Of several projects being funded in India, one will help the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce coordinate activities for advancing Indian
methane recovery and use projects in the agriculture and landfill sectors,
and another will help the International Institute for Energy Conservation
there initiate a nationwide system for recovering methane from manure at
animal feeding operations.
In Nigeria, the Center for People and the Environment received a grant for a
study of electricity generation from coal mine methane at a site to be
determined, and the International Solid Waste Association will develop a
Nigerian landfill inventory.
The Ecological Regional Centre in Russia will develop a landfill inventory
for that nation, and the Russia Energy Efficiency Demonstration Zones
Association will create a Clean Energy Technology Information Center in
Moscow.
And in South Korea, the Korea District Heating Corporation will conduct
feasibility studies of methane recovery from the Chuncheon, Gangneung, Jinju
and Mokpo landfills.
"Virtually all the projects are leveraging other resources," Gunning said,
"so in all cases the institutions we are cooperating with will contribute
funding for projects and in some cases have partnered with others, too, so
the award amounts aren't necessarily the full amount -- it's a portion
supported by the U.S. government."
More information about the Methane to Markets Partnership and the Methane to
Markets Partnership Expo is available on that organization's Web site.
For more stories about U.S. efforts to combat climate change, see Climate
Change and Clean Energy.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State.)
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