On 10 November, the World Biogas Association (WBA) will call for the transformational change of waste management systems at a live-streamed COP26 Blue Zone event.
During the event, the WBA will demonstrate the ‘critical value’ of anaerobic digestion (AD) in reducing global methane emissions. Human activities generate billions of tonnes of organic wastes annually which, if left untreated, emit vast amounts of methane alongside other greenhouse gases.
A key theme of COP26, as illustrated by the formal launch of the Global Methane Pledge in Glasgow, is reducing methane emissions – a GHG 86 times more potent than CO2 in the first 20 years after the release into the atmosphere. Over 100 countries have now signed up, committing them to reducing their emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), this will serve to reduce global temperatures by at least 0.2oC by 2050.
The Global Methane Assessment published by the UN Environmental Programme and Climate and Clean Air Coalition in May recognises AD as “one of the key technologies that can deliver methane reductions at low cost”. The US Environmental Protection Agency calls AD a ‘common-sense technology’ to cut methane emissions.
WBA modelling for the Biogas: Pathways to 2030 report, published in March, shows that preventing emissions of methane and other harmful gases from organic wastes can have the net effect of reducing global GHG emissions by 10% by 2030. More >>