{"id":55532,"date":"2021-11-08T13:47:42","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T03:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=55532"},"modified":"2024-07-03T11:41:24","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T02:11:24","slug":"global-methane-pledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/global-methane-pledge\/","title":{"rendered":"COP26: Australia Stupid Not To Join Global Methane Pledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Global<\/p>\r\n

Last week at the COP26 in Glasgow, more than 100 nations took the Global Methane Pledge and committed to reducing emissions of this dangerous greenhouse gas 30% by 2030.\u00a0 It was a shining moment in history as the world’s people came together to act for the common good.<\/p>\r\n

When I say “the people of the world”, I actually don’t mean all of them. For a start, there wouldn’t be enough room.\u00a0 There are a few countries not taking part.\u00a0 Among them are China, India, Iran, and Russia.\u00a0 Australia is also one of them.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Under other circumstances, it might be nice to cosy up with a few major trading partners like this, but this is not a group it’s in our interest to join.\u00a0 India and Iran are poor nations, so I’m not going to pick on them for letting the opportunity pass by, but both China and Russia are solidly middle income and can afford to make the effort.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Most shamefully of all, Australians are five times richer on a per capita basis, and if any nation among the abstainers can afford to reduce methane emissions, we’re it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

We weren’t only faced with a clear moral choice.\u00a0 We also had to decide between acting sensibly and helping secure humanity’s future or acting stupidly and unnecessarily, putting it at greater risk.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Our leadership chose to be stupid.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Australia should have taken the pledge<\/a> because it would be relatively easy for us to cut methane emissions 30% over the next eight years.\u00a0 Even from a completely venal point of view, we were idiots for not taking the easy win.<\/p>\r\n

What The Hell Is Methane?<\/h2>\r\n

Methane<\/a> is a colourless, flammable gas.\u00a0 It’s the main component of natural gas that we burn to generate electricity and provide heat for homes and industry.\u00a0 It’s produced naturally by methanogenic microorganisms<\/a> found in rotting vegetation, soil, and the digestive tracts of animals such as cows, sheep, and termites.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

It’s an odourless gas.\u00a0 This may surprise those who think it’s a major component of flatulence, but humans are minor producers<\/a> of digestive methane.\u00a0 Although there are exceptions.<\/p>\r\n

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and behind a hefty chunk of global warming.\u00a0 Methane emissions from civilization are roughly responsible for 16% of global warming that has occurred over the past few hundred years.\u00a0 But the calculations involved in working that out are really complex, and climatologists can get very cranky with idiots who try to guesstimate it down to a simple percentage.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Measured over 100 years, one tonne of methane emissions will result in around 34 times as much warming as one tonne of CO2 emissions1<\/a><\/sup>.\u00a0 Unlike CO2 — where much of what we’ve added to the atmosphere will still be there after thousands of years unless we do something about it — methane breaks down over time.\u00a0 After 50 years, most of what’s in the atmosphere now will be gone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

The half-life of atmospheric methane is around 12.4 years, but this can vary<\/a> considerably for reasons we only partially understand.\u00a0 The graph below shows how methane breaks down over time:<\/p>\r\n

\"Atmospheric

This graph assumes a methane half-life in the atmosphere of 12.5 years rather than 12.4.\u00a0 This is partly because the value is approximate but mostly because a round 100 years looks better than janky 99.2 years.<\/p><\/div>\r\n

Because methane emitted today will be half gone after around 12 to 13 years, its warming effect is front-loaded.\u00a0 While over 100 years its warming effect will be around 33 times greater than CO2, over 20 years its warming effect is around 80 times higher.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

But that’s only considering the direct warming effects of methane.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it also interacts with aerosols<\/a> in a\u00a0 way that increases its warming effect over 20 years to an estimated 104 times higher than CO2.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Because methane is a powerful greenhouse gas but also breaks down over time, cutting emissions now can significantly slow global warming over the next few decades.\u00a0 This means the Global Methane Pledge makes a lot of sense.<\/p>\r\n

But before anyone gets too excited, I should mention when methane breaks down, it converts into CO2.\u00a0 While CO2’s greenhouse effect is much less powerful, it does mean all the warming from methane emissions won’t disappear if we wait 50+ years.<\/p>\r\n

Natural Methane Emissions Not Counted<\/h2>\r\n

Around 40% of methane emissions are from natural sources such as wetlands and termites.\u00a0 These sources are not included in the Global Methane Pledge, which only covers emissions from human activity.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

In Australia, emissions from cows and sheep are considered part of human activity, as our beef and wool industries weren’t created by mother nature.\u00a0 You might expect methane directly produced by humans would count as part of human activity but — interestingly enough — human farts are considered natural. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Australians only fart out around 3,000 tonnes of methane a year, which is under 3% of emissions from our other activities.\u00a0 I’m not saying it’s okay to fart as much as you want, but if you let one rip, it won’t interfere with any international agreements, provided it’s below the level of a nuclear weapons test.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Australia’s Methane Emission Levels<\/h2>\r\n

Here’s a graph of Australia’s methane emissions from human activity this century:<\/p>\r\n

\"Australian

Graph taken from National Greenhouse Gas Inventory report<\/a>, but I added the blue title.<\/p><\/div>\r\n

As you can see, it has already been trending down, and if the rate continues, emissions will be 7% lower by 2030.<\/p>\r\n

In 2020 methane emissions were 1.09 million tonnes2<\/a><\/sup>.\u00a0 If we’d joined the Pledge, our emissions would need to be 760,000 tonnes by 2030.<\/p>\r\n

Australia’s population is now 25.9 million, with an average household size of 2.6 people.\u00a0 This means our current emissions average out to…<\/p>\r\n