Under-reporting of supply chain emissions from biomethane and effect on certificate demand

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A recent (17 June 2022) study by the Sustainable Gas Institute, Imperial College London, has suggested that methane leaks along the biogas/biomethane supply chain may be twice as much as previously estimated.

Given that biomethane is seen as a sustainable and green replacement for natural gas and fugitive methane emissions have a global warming potential twenty-seven times that of carbon dioxide, this study could have serious implications for the uptake of renewable natural gas.

The study, published in One Earth, utilised Monte Carlo simulations and drew on data from various European biogas producers. The authors acknowledge a wide range of uncertainty in the results given the large differences in the way biomethane facilities are maintained and operated; further effort is required ...