Temporary CO2 Removal Will Help Offset Methane Emissions: Report

Methane emissions, unlike carbon dioxide, cause a faster increase in temperature.

A new study by Nature revealed that temporarily removing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the most effective way to offset methane emissions, which have a large short-term effect on the temperature. 

The report said that matching the temporary temperature effects of methane with equivalent temporary CO2 cooling eliminates significant climate burden being passed to future generations. 

Methane is the second-largest driver of global warming, and unlike carbon dioxide its emissions cause a faster increase in temperature. Traditional offsetting methods like geological storage to counter methane emissions leads to a costly mismatch which is the initial increase in temperature followed by a small temperature reduction. This creates intertemporal welfare transfer from present to future populations. 

The thirty-year solution

The study suggested using temporary nature-based solutions (NBS) like afforestation, which naturally offer only short-term carbon storage. These are ideally suited to offset methane’s temporary impact.

Researchers calculated that about 87 temporary CO2 removals, each lasting 30 years, are needed to offset one tonne of methane emission to achieve a “temporally matched” offset. The temporary removal of methane would also drastically reduce the peak temperature effect and help to smooth out climate damages across the generations minimising welfare transfers. 

The research highlighted that short-term monitoring periods of 20 to 30 years are significantly easier and more credible to enforce for nature-based projects than the long-term requirements demanded by permanent storage schemes. 

Economically feasible 

The authors emphasise that temporary carbon dioxide removal (CDR) provides a suitable purpose for potentially non-permanent projects and is economically feasible.  Given that recent estimates suggest the social cost of methane is upwards of $7,000 per tonne while many nature-based CO2 removal projects cost below $20 per tonne of CO2, the compensation rate of 87 temporary offsets remains viable.

The report stated that the overall idea is that the solution should match the problem. Temporary CO2 removals are best for the temporary effects of methane while permanent removals like geological storage should be reserved for permanent CO2 emissions. This distinction could allow both types of removal markets to thrive where they’re most appropriate.

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