Methane emissions in the UK could be cut by more than 40% by 2030 with a raft of inexpensive policies, according to an environmental thinktank.
The government has pledged to cut emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that has more than 80 times the global heating power of CO2, by at least 30% by 2030. The move was trumpeted by Boris Johnson when he was prime minister after the UK joined more than 100 other countries to make the pledge at Cop26 in Glasgow.
But as yet no specific proposals have been put forward by the government for how to make the cuts. The UK will hand over the Cop presidency to Egypt before the Cop27 summit which starts on Sunday, but the lack of action by ministers risks the UK losing its reputation as a global leader in methane reductions, says the thinktank Green Alliance.
In a report published on Wednesday, it lists a series of low-cost measures, which it says could reduce methane emissions from their 2020 levels by 43%.
Key to the reductions are changes to the waste industry, the report says. By bringing forward the UK’s ban on landfilling biodegradable waste to 2025 and mandating landfill operators to increase biogas capture, the UK could reduce methane emissions by 19% by 2030. A further 9% of methane savings could come from regulating the gas industry to end methane leaks, as urged by the IEA (International Energy Agency). Plugging these leaks would also rapidly increase gas supplies to the UK, supporting UK energy security.
The report also urged the government to adopt measures to cut methane in the agriculture and land use sector, which makes up more than half of the total methane produced in the UK.
By feeding dairy cows the methane reducing supplement Bovaer/3-NOP, improving management of slurry, and encouraging the consumption of alternative proteins, as well as fruit and vegetables, the UK could shave a further 15% off its methane emissions, the report said.
Dustin Benton, policy director at Green Alliance, said: “Because methane emissions are accelerating the warming of the planet faster than carbon dioxide, it’s essential that both methane and carbon dioxide are cut rapidly.
“Our work is the first to show how the UK can exceed its global methane pledge by 2030, using low-cost policies that not only reduce methane emissions, but also create new industries in alternative proteins, and improve our energy security in the face of the gas crisis.”
