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Building on the President’s Climate Action Plan, today the White House and the Department of Energy hosted the fifth in a series of meetings on reducing methane emissions from natural gas systems. Following the meeting, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz announced several new initiatives as DOE’s part of the larger Administration Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions.
‘By expanding our discussions through these methane roundtables, we have heard from several different groups about the benefits to finding workable solutions to the problem of methane leakage,” said Secretary Moniz. ‘These benefits include job creation through pipeline and other equipment replacement, cost recovery for infrastructure investments that increase safety and save energy, and opportunities for addressing climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Methane is both a potent greenhouse gas and a valuable energy resource. To address methane leakage from natural gas systems, DOE announced steps to help modernize the nation’s natural gas transmission and distribution systems. As part of the overall Administration’s methane strategy, the Energy Department’s Initiative to Help Modernize Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution Infrastructure includes:
The methane roundtables brought together representatives from industry, labor, academia, environmental and non-governmental organizations, and manufacturing, as well as states and localities to identify opportunities, technical solutions, and best practices to reduce methane emissions from a range of sources.
In addition, as part of the President’s Climate Action Plan, the Administration is currently carrying out the Quadrennial Energy Review to develop a comprehensive blueprint for meeting our 21st century energy challenges. The first installment of the QER is focused on the issues of transmission, storage and distribution infrastructure across the energy sector, including natural gas.
For additional information, a comprehensive factsheet can be found HERE.