*EPF309 07/28/2004
International Methane Partnership Targets Greenhouse Gasses
(U.S. joins seven partners on clean energy initiative) (520)

By Cheryl Pellerin
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States will join seven other countries in an international climate-change initiative to recover and use methane, the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, as a clean energy source, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Mike Leavitt has announced.

Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom and Ukraine will join the United States as founding partners in the Methane to Markets Partnership, Leavitt told reporters at a July 28 news conference. Representatives from Canada and Russia have had positive discussions about potential opportunities in the initiative, said Paula Dobriansky, undersecretary of state for global affairs.

The State Department, which leads on international climate-change policy and activities, is playing a central role in the collaboration, along with the U.S. Department of Energy, which has expertise in natural gas and coal mine methane technologies. The U.S. Agency for International Development will also participate through technical assistance to developing and transition economies on reforming their energy sectors.

Methane is the primary component of natural gas. Because its presence in the atmosphere affects the earth's temperature and climate, it is also a potent greenhouse gas. It represents about 16 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but it is of particular concern because over a 100-year period it is 23 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Over the last two centuries, methane concentrations in the atmosphere have more than doubled.

The United States will commit up to $53 million over five years to the partnership initiative, which seeks to reduce global methane emissions to enhance economic growth, promote energy security, improve the environment, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Strong private sector participation is also expected.

At the press conference, Kamal Kant Dwivedi, India's counselor for science and technology, and Japanese commercial minister Hiroaki Ishii expressed enthusiasm for the partnership and the contributions that their countries would make to the effort.

The Methane to Market Partnership targets three major sources for action: landfills, underground coal mines, and natural gas and oil systems. The partnership will undertake cooperative research in methane science issues and cost-effective activities for reducing agricultural emissions.

Methane is a good candidate for such control efforts. According to the National Research Council, the atmospheric lifetime of methane is 10-12 years, so positive results of decreasing methane levels now could be seen relatively quickly and would have a more immediate impact on the atmosphere than would carbon dioxide mitigation.

In order of importance, China, Russia (and other Eurasian countries), India, the United States, and Brazil are responsible for nearly half of all human-influenced methane emissions, although from widely different sources. In China, two main sources of methane emissions are coal and rice production. Most of Russia's methane comes from natural gas and oil systems. India's main sources are rice and livestock production. Landfills are the largest U.S. source.

The Methane to Markets Partnership will be officially launched in November 2004 at a ministerial conference in Washington.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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