So if methane is this big a problem, what tools do we have, and are we using, to solve it? The first global agreement that methane was a problem came in the form of the Global Methane Pledge announced at COP26 at Glasgow in 2021. What’s happened since then, especially in the industry with the easiest to abate emissions: oil and gas?

We look at the International Methane Emissions Observatory, the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership, the new EU regulation on methane and proposals for financial instruments to help bring emissions down.

Host: 

The show is presented by: Francesca Fazey

Affiliation:

The show is brought to you by: The 2Celsius Association

Contributors:

Raul Cazan, Founder of The 2Celsius Association, Bucharest, Romania

Kim O’Dowd, Campaigner at The Environmental Investigation Agency, London, UK

Dr Roland Kupers, Global Advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Deborah Gordon, Senior Fellow, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University; Senior Principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) Climate Intelligence Program, Washington DC, USA

Dr Philippe Ciais, Associate Director, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), Paris, France

Théophile Humann-Guilleminot, Campaign Manager, Clean Air Task Force ,Athens Greece

Dr Dave Lowry, Reader: Stable Isotope and Greenhouse Gas, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Rebecca Fisher: Reader: Atmospheric Methane, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Thoman Roeckmann, Professor of Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Professor Jonathan Stern, Distinguished Research Fellow, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford, UK

Melanie Kenderdine, Principal, Energy Futures Initiative, Washington DC, USA

Natural gas is the ideal bridge fuel to support the global energy transition, or so the story goes. But what about methane emissions? Environmentalists want us to throw it on the pile of the other fossil fuels and doom it to the past. The energy community says: Not so fast. Where are we on our energy transition journey when it comes to natural gas and if we’re going to invest in it going forward, what are the implications of the methane problem for our chosen direction to a renewable future?

Contributors:

Raul Cazan, Founder of The 2Celsius Association, Bucharest, Romania

Kim O’Dowd, Campaigner at The Environmental Investigation Agency, London, UK

Dr Roland Kupers, Global Advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Deborah Gordon, Senior Fellow, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University; Senior Principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) Climate Intelligence Program, Washington DC, USA

Dr Philippe Ciais, Associate Director, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), Paris, France

Théophile Humann-Guilleminot, Campaign Manager, Clean Air Task Force ,Athens Greece

Dr Dave Lowry, Reader: Stable Isotope and Greenhouse Gas, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Rebecca Fisher: Reader: Atmospheric Methane, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Thoman Roeckmann, Professor of Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Professor Jonathan Stern, Distinguished Research Fellow, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford, UK

Melanie Kenderdine, Principal, Energy Futures Initiative, Washington DC, USA

Manmade methane emissions pose a potent threat to the climate, but they aren’t emitted into a vacuum. They feed into the earth’s existing complex cycle of methane, and as much as half the methane that reaches the atmosphere every year comes from natural sources.

The most crucial of these is wetlands, and in addition to generating methane, they pose a potentially bigger danger: climate change feedbacks. You may have heard of the most famous: the threat of a huge methane release from the world’s permafrost regions. But it turns out the story might be more complex than we thought, and wetlands in tropical regions may constitute the read danger to watch…

Host: 

The show is presented by: Francesca Fazey

Affiliation:

The show is brought to you by: The 2Celsius Association

 Contributors:

Raul Cazan, Founder of The 2Celsius Association, Bucharest, Romania

Kim O’Dowd, Campaigner at The Environmental Investigation Agency, London, UK

Dr Roland Kupers, Global Advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Deborah Gordon, Senior Fellow, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University; Senior Principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) Climate Intelligence Program, Washington DC, USA

Dr Philippe Ciais, Associate Director, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), Paris, France

Théophile Humann-Guilleminot, Campaign Manager, Clean Air Task Force ,Athens Greece

Dr Dave Lowry, Reader: Stable Isotope and Greenhouse Gas, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Rebecca Fisher: Reader: Atmospheric Methane, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

In this episode, we introduce our listeners to some of the world’s methane hunters, environmental detectives who use cutting-edge technology to detect and quantify methane emissions, making an invisible gas, visible. We embark on a methane hunting expedition of our own and talk to the coordinator of one of the world’s largest methane studies on the difference between estimated and measured emissions in the oil and gas sector.

Host: 

The show is presented by: Francesca Fazey

Affiliation:

The show is brought to you by: The 2Celsius Association

Contributors:

Raul Cazan, Founder of The 2Celsius Association, Bucharest, Romania

Kim O’Dowd, Campaigner at The Environmental Investigation Agency, London, UK

Dr Roland Kupers, Global Advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Deborah Gordon, Senior Fellow, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University; Senior Principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) Climate Intelligence Program, Washington DC, USA

Dr Philippe Ciais, Associate Director, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), Paris, France

Théophile Humann-Guilleminot, Campaign Manager, Clean Air Task Force ,Athens Greece

Dr Dave Lowry, Reader: Stable Isotope and Greenhouse Gas, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Rebecca Fisher: Reader: Atmospheric Methane, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Thoman Roeckmann, Professor of Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Professor Jonathan Stern, Distinguished Research Fellow, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford, UK

Melanie Kenderdine, Principal, Energy Futures Initiative, Washington DC, USA

In this second episode of our podcast, we delve into the complex world of methane emission sources. Join us as we look at the five main sectors that emit methane, unpack how the main ingredient of natural gas is also emitted by cow burps and get a taste of how scientists tease apart the difference. We’ll also touch on why so much emphasis is placed on the emissions from oil and gas.

Host: 

The show is presented by: Francesca Fazey

Affiliation:

The show is brought to you by: The 2Celsius Association

Contributors:

Raul Cazan, Founder of The 2Celsius Association, Bucharest, Romania

Kim O’Dowd, Campaigner at The Environmental Investigation Agency, London, UK

Dr Roland Kupers, Global Advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Deborah Gordon, Senior Fellow, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University; Senior Principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) Climate Intelligence Program, Washington DC, USA

Dr Philippe Ciais, Associate Director, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), Paris, France

Théophile Humann-Guilleminot, Campaign Manager, Clean Air Task Force ,Athens Greece

Dr Dave Lowry, Reader: Stable Isotope and Greenhouse Gas, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Rebecca Fisher: Reader: Atmospheric Methane, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Thoman Roeckmann, Professor of Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Professor Jonathan Stern, Distinguished Research Fellow, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford, UK

Melanie Kenderdine, Principal, Energy Futures Initiative, Washington DC, 

In the premiere episode of "Methane," we embark on a journey to unravel the complexities of methane emissions, exploring why this often-overlooked greenhouse gas holds the key to combating global warming. 

Join host Francesca Fazey as she introduces the world of methane emissions, shedding light on its significance, challenges, and where we might look to start on delivering some promising solutions.


Host: 

The show is presented by: Francesca Fazey

Affiliation:

The show is brought to you by:  2Celsius 

Resource List: 

• Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
• International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO)
• International Energy Agency (IEA)
• Global Methane Tracker
• United Nations Global Methane Pledge
• Rocky Mountain Institute Climate Program
• Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
• Clean Air Task Force
• Greenhouse Gas Laboratory, University of Royal Holloway
• Romanian Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas
• Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences, Paris
• University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USA
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, Washington DC, USA

Contributors:

Raul Cazan, Founder of The 2Celsius Association, Bucharest, Romania

Kim O’Dowd, Campaigner at The Environmental Investigation Agency, London, UK

Dr Roland Kupers, Global Advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Deborah Gordon, Senior Fellow, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University; Senior Principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) Climate Intelligence Program, Washington DC, USA

Dr Philippe Ciais, Associate Director, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), Paris, France

Théophile Humann-Guilleminot, Campaign Manager, Clean Air Task Force ,Athens Greece

Dr Dave Lowry, Reader: Stable Isotope and Greenhouse Gas, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Rebecca Fisher: Reader: Atmospheric Methane, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Royal Holloway, London UK

Dr Thoman Roeckmann, Professor of Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Professor Jonathan Stern, Distinguished Research Fellow, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford, UK

Melanie Kenderdine, Principal, Energy Futures Initiative, Washington DC, USA

Andris Piebalgs is a former Commissioner for Energy (Barroso I) and for Development (Barroso II), and currently with the prestigious Florence School of Regulation (European University Institute) in Fiesole, Italy. For what we were interested in this dialogue, it was  noteworthy that he is Chair of the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) Implementation Committee under UNEP.

Earlier this year Piebalgs co-authored Cost-effective decarbonisation study 2022, a work constructed before the war in Ukraine, yet very agile in catching matters of costs in the energy transition. Keeping energy affordable, secure and competitive while aggressively pursuing decarbonisation will be challenging, but now, with the necessity of weaning off Russian hydrocarbons, truly imperative.

Raul Cazan

Julian Popov, ex-minister of environment of Bulgaria is our guest today. He is an expert on low carbon economy and energy security in South East Europe. He is a European Climate Foundation (ECF) Fellow, Chairman at Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE), Energy Security Adviser to the Bulgarian President. Founding Vice Chancellor of the New Bulgarian University, Founding Board Member of the Institute of Sustainable Transition and Development, Former Chairman of the Bulgarian School of Politics, just to name a few.

Russia announced that it would stop gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland. Recently Finland joined the group. How big a problem is that?

It depends very much on the Bulgarian, Finnish and Polish governments. All countries can survive without Russian gas for some time. They have also options for alternative gas supplies. The announcement is also an opportunity. Indeed, the Poles replied defiantly to Russia’s move: “who cares?”

Quick fix: reduce the overall gas consumption. Countries can do that with a combination of renewables, energy efficiency, heat pumps, replacement of appliances, demand response and other measures. All these measures could be implemented before winter. 

Russia is declaring an energy war on Europe. The right response is a decisive counterattack. It would be very unwise if that counterattack is only launched through imports of liquified gas - LNG from across the seas. It will simply not work. 

In any case, the Russian announcement is a great opportunity. And that opportunity lies in the acceleration of the EU Green Deal, that is the greening of the whole European economy.

Raul Cazan

We were all absorbed by the duel of apocalyptic newsworthiness between Macron and the extreme right. Yet, this spring brought us a resounding election victory of a green party in the small ex-Yugoslav country of Slovenia.
 
 Robert Golob and his Freedom Party founded earlier this year defeated the populist politician, prime minister Janez Jansa. Golob’s environmentalist centre-left party won about a third of the votes in the parliamentary elections, with Jansa’s Slovenian Democratic party (SDS) taking less than a quarter, a much wider margin that all opinion polls had predicted.

Slovenian electorate avoided the “Hungarianisation” of Slovenia, a reference to Jansa’s tendency to harshly repel critics and lash against independent media. He had a close relationship with Viktor Orban, Hungary’s authoritarian and illiberal leader. 

All the election dynamics were overanalyzed in the European media. However, of greater importance is the environmental and climate agenda of the freshly elected Slovenian prime minister. And, in truth, Golob is the only straightforwardly green prime minister currently on the European continent, if not on the whole globe.

Borut Tavcar, my old friend from the main Slovenian daily, Delo, will enlighten us in matters related to Golob’s policy, political philosophy and agenda. Borut is the editor of the environment and sustainability section of the newspaper. Since the COP in Cancun in 2010 we met annually in various green events all across Europe.

Raul Cazan

Ilaria Conti is Head of Gas at the Florence School of Regulation.

Her main fields of expertise concern EU institutional relations and EU electricity and gas regulation.

She spent about 9 years in Brussels, working for the the Permanent Representation of Italy at the EU, the United Nations and, from 2005 until 2013, for EFET, the “European Federation of Energy Traders” covering various positions within the association. 

Professor Conti joined the Florence School of Regulation (FSR) in 2015 as Energy Policy Deputy and in 2017 she was appointed Head of the new FSR Gas area.

She is author and co-author of many scientific articles and position papers, actually, until 5 years ago she was the Managing Editor of the publication “Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy” that belongs to the International Association for Energy Economics.

We met in qualities of master and disciple (I was the student, obviously) at the European University Institute in Florence – in the beautiful little town of Fiesole up on the hills west of Florence - where you, professor, were part of the teaching staff in a course that dealt with high quality regulation in areas such as climate and energy.

We tackled:
1. High gas prices in Europe: a matter for policy intervention?
Issues: 

- Are gas storages still able to provide the necessary flexibility and contribute to hedging price spikes in the new context given by the war in Ukraine? Is it welcome a new gas storage legislation in the EU that provides a mandatory minimum level of gas in storage facilities ahead of the winter 2022/2023 and for the following winter periods?

- Solutions for a new gas procurement in Europe.

- Acceleration of alternative energy uptake as to wean off not merely Russian gas, but natural gas altogether (foresight)

2. Taxonomy and natural gas: a fact-based approach to drive sustainable solutions
Issues:

- Issues related to the delegated act from January 2022 - lack of public consultation;

- Will the targets under Paris Agreement be met?

- How will we ever know if the best available technologies related to gas are actually sustainable?

Raul Cazan