What are the main sources of Methane emissions?
Methane (CH4): As with CO2, there are both natural sources of methane as well as ones that come from human activities. Again human-related sources create the majority of methane emissions, the 3 main sources are: • Fossil Fuel Mining/Distribution • Livestock • Landfills Figure 1:Source: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (2008), EPA. • Fossil Fuel Mining/Distribution: Methane is always found wherever there are fossil fuels. It is released whenever fossil fuels are extracted from the earth whether it is natural gas (which is mostly methane anyway), coal or oil. Also during any type of handling, transportation (through pipeline or truck delivery) or refinement there are additional methane emissions created for every type of fossil fuel. By simply buying/using any fossil fuel whether it is coal, natural gas or petroleum you contribute to the most important source of methane emissions worldwide. • Livestock: Farm animals create methane emissions in 2 ways. Animals like co
