Methane is responsible for approximately 30% of global warming since the industrial era. With a global warming potential 80 times that of CO2 over a 20-year horizon, reducing methane emissions delivers outsized climate benefit per tonne abated.
The sources are well-understood: oil and gas operations (leaks, venting, flaring), coal mining, agriculture (enteric fermentation, rice paddies), and waste management (landfill gas). For the energy and waste sectors, methane abatement is often cost-negative — captured methane has economic value as fuel.
The Global Methane Pledge (COP26) and the EU Methane Regulation (2024) are driving regulatory action. The EU regulation requires oil, gas, and coal operators to implement leak detection and repair programmes, ban routine venting and flaring, and report methane emissions with increasing granularity.
RSustain’s environmental engineering team has extensive experience in methane management across oil and gas (Qatar, India) and waste management sectors. Our services include methane emissions inventories, leak detection programme design, and landfill gas capture feasibility studies.
For companies seeking quick, verifiable climate wins, methane management is the lowest-hanging fruit. The technology exists, the economics work, and the regulatory pressure is intensifying. There is no reason to delay.