Methane Emission

The reduction of methane emissions into the atmosphere is a top priority for Assorisorse. The Italian industry is particularly active and has achieved significant results in the areas of identification, detection, measurement and mitigation, investing in cost-effective technologies and scalable projects.

We need methane and we will need it more and more to increase the resilience and independence of our energy system, and the industry effort to zeroing emission is foundamental essential.

The effort that the gas industry is making, at the level of the supply chain and at a global level, is exactly to prevent losses of methane into the atmosphere along the gas route, from the well to the final user, for both avoiding eroding the environmental advantage of natural gas compared to other fossil fuels and incrementing the availability of marketable methane.

In Italy we have long been engaged in voluntary actions and initiatives and our operators play a proactive role in the main international partnerships on the issue of methane emissions. All methane emissions are monitored and quantified according to international best practices and standards and further mitigation actions are being identified in order to ensure a reduction in line with the objectives recently launched as part of the Global Methane Pledge.

In this context, the activity of Assorisorse has been entrusted to a Working Group, coordinated by RINA, which includes representatives and experts from Baker Hughes, Bonatti, Italfluid Geoenergy, Energean, Eni, Gas Plus Italiana, Hera Group, Maurel et Prom, Pansoinco, Schlumberger Italiana, Schneider Electric, Shell and Snam. These are operators, technology suppliers, designers, builders, inspection, testing and certification bodies and consulting firms.

Thanks to the expertise of all these companies, Assorisorse has activated several collaborations and has become a point of reference on the issue for the Italian industrial system. In particular, Assorisorse actively participates in OGCI’s Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions initiative and has activated a collaboration with Friends of the Earth and the network EDF – Environmental Defense Fund.

Collaboration among the Associates led to the publication of the White Paper “Italian Industry’s Commitment to Reducing Methane Emissions.”

The document reviews the various technologies and solutions available at the level of design, implementation and management in order to reduce methane emissions and to be able to quantify them accurately. A number of technologies developed by the members of the Association are also illustrated and application examples are described.

Several occasions on which Assorisorse disseminated its achievements included:

– RiEnergia n.362, Angelo Lo Nigro ““Puntando all’azzeramento delle emissioni“ (July 2024);
– Interview Angelo Lo Nigro at the Global Energy Transition Congress and Transition “Puntando all’azzeramento delle emissioni” (July 2024);
– OMC 2023: Speech Angelo Lo Nigro  Martedì at the Tech Session “Operation Optimisation” (October 2023)
– Interview Angelo Lo Nigro “Un punto di svolta sulle emissioni di metano”, CH4 n.3, 2023 (October 2023);
– Webinar “Le emissioni di metano: quale ruolo per l’Italia” (event organized by AREL – Agenzia di Ricerche e Legislazione) (July 2023);
– Workshop GHG Emissions beyond CO2 (event organized by SPE) (May 2023);
– Chamber of Deputies, Rome (event organized by Open Gate Italia) (December 2022);
– GPA Europe Annual Conference 2022, Paris (November 2022);
– Ecomondo, Rimini (November 2022);
– HESE – Hydrogen Energy Summit&Expo, Bologna (October 2022);
– Gastech 2022, Milan (conference selected paper) (September 2022);
– Senate of the Italian Republic, Rome (event organized by Open Gate Italia) (July 2022);
– Center for American Studies, Rome (event organized by Science Office US Embassy) (June 2022).