The global push to reduce methane emissions from natural gas-related operations (from production wells to end users) and certify gas as “responsibly processed” has been accelerating and expanding. It now appears possible that within the next two to three years most gas produced in the US will be certified as responsibly sourced gas, or RSG, and that a large number of gas buyers—power generators, industrialists, exporters of LNG and local distribution companies. (LDC) among themselves: they will buy RSG, or at least move towards doing so. In addition, an RSG market is being developed (a handful of trading platforms have already been launched), as well as tracking systems to ensure that gas sold as RSG is fully accounted for and legitimate, without double counting or confusion . In today’s RBN blog, we begin an in-depth look at RSG and its emergence as a relative novelty on the cusp of widespread acceptance.
While many countries and companies around the world continue to increase their use of wind and solar power and explore the potential of a variety of low-carbon and zero-carbon renewable fuels, there is growing recognition that natural gas , however imperfect. be from a climate perspective: it is a readily available and relatively clean source of energy that will remain an important part of the global energy mix for decades to come. Much of this rethinking is linked to energy security. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 provided a stark reminder to climate-minded Europe (and the rest of us, too) that while the shift to a low-carbon economy is important , it must be followed with a careful rhythm, which will not serve anyone. any good to have a totally “green” grid that only produces a fraction of the energy the world needs.
With all of this in mind, there are a variety of efforts underway to make the natural gas piece of the global energy puzzle as clean as it can be. The main objective of these efforts is to reduce as much as possible the amount of methane (CH4), the main ingredient of natural gas, which is released into the atmosphere along its journey from the production well to the end user’s burner tip. There is good reason to reduce methane emissions. Methane is a particularly potent greenhouse gas (GHG), with 84 times the atmospheric heat-trapping effect of carbon dioxide (CO).2) in the short term (from five to 20 years). This means that reducing methane emissions along the gas value chain has rapid and very positive climate effects.
Which brings us to RSG, a topic we first discussed a couple of years ago better way. As we said then, RSG is natural gas that has been certified by an independent third party to have been produced, collected, processed, transported and/or distributed in a manner that meets higher environmental standards. (We compared RSG to an organic tomato or a shot of Gray Goose vodka, a seemingly better, higher-priced version of a commodity.)
Methane control equipment. Source: Canary Project
