EU agrees on its first law to curb methane emissions
The European Union struck a deal on a law to tackle methane emissions from fossil fuels, paving the way to impose rules on the bloc’s foreign energy suppliers like the United States.
European Parliament members and E.U. governments in the European Council found agreement on the bloc’s first methane regulation in the early hours of Wednesday morning, some two years after Brussels and Washington launched the Global Methane Pledge at COP 26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Related Knowledge Center: Methane
As the production of natural gas from shale fields has expanded, so have methane emissions. U.S. methane emissions grew 27 percent from 1990 to 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration. Methane contributes about 10 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.