San Francisco, CA. Today, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released “A Research Agenda Towards Atmospheric Methane Removal.” The study considered the need and possible approach categories for methane removal, one category of greenhouse gas removal currently being explored as part of the efforts towards climate change mitigation.

The report was initiated against a backdrop of record high atmospheric methane levels, which currently cause 0.5°C of warming, and continue to rise at an accelerating rate. Most of the elevated methane emissions arise from large anthropogenic sources, including from fossil fuels, agriculture, and the waste sector. Stopping these emissions is a top priority, and will lead to a reduction in atmospheric methane levels over time.  As a result of climate change, methane emissions from natural systems are expected to rise significantly this century, including from thawing permafrost and warming tropical wetlands. Growing scientific evidence suggests this is already starting in tropical wetlands.

Experts agree that methane removal should not be a replacement for emissions from human activities, but rather an additional tool to more quickly reduce warming from historical and climate feedback methane emissions.

“Today’s study underscores the urgent need to rapidly expand coordinated research and investment in methane removal approaches, in parallel with crucial emission reductions efforts,” said David Mann, co-founder and Head of Strategy at Spark Climate Solutions. “Advancing this overall field also requires improved measurement of atmospheric methane and existing natural sinks, community engagement, work on governance, and all of the other research steps described in today’s report. The NASEM study recommendations align with and expand on the research Spark has been funding over the last 3 years, and, if implemented, will support the initial scale of research effort needed here to build foundational knowledge towards future phases of research.”

“Methane removal approaches could hold great potential for mitigating climate risks; however this area is just starting to get attention, and much more research is needed to identify, evaluate, and optimize various possible approaches,” said Phil Duffy, Chief Scientist at Spark. "We’re glad to see the NASEM report’s recommendation of $50-80 million per year over the next 3-5 years in research funding. That cost is negligible relative to the potential societal benefit."

”Over the last few years, as we’ve started to fund research in the field, we’ve seen a tremendous response from scientists stepping up to this challenge. Much more research is needed in this area, and we’re looking forward to continuing to support the growth of this research field, aligned with the NASEM study recommendations,” said Erika Reinhardt, co-founder and Executive Director of Spark. “In the last year, the field has very clearly become funding-limited as scientific interest has grown. The NASEM funding recommendations would go a long way towards enabling the growing number of scientists interested in the field to be able to pursue this important research area.”

Alongside work in other climate fields, Spark is helping establish and support the methane removal field, including development of a robust, independent research community, and advancement of legal and governance frameworks. Spark has been the predominant research funder for atmospheric methane removal over the last few years, with grants supporting 25 principal investigators researching projects into advancing scientific and legal understanding of methane removal approaches, dynamics of current methane sinks and how they might be enhanced, and measurement tools to enable work in the field. By Spark’s estimate, less than $10 million of total research funding has gone into the field to date, globally, from all sources. 

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For NASEM Report, click here. 

For Spark Media Kit, click here. 

For more information on methane removal and Spark: 

• Grantees
• Methane Removal Intro
• Methane Removal Primer
• FAQs
• Field updates

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A science-driven, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Spark Climate Solutions is dedicated to identifying and mitigating sources of unmanaged climate risk. Spark works directly with scientists, policy makers, and peer organizations, and offers grants to support the growth of fields with the potential to limit warming, manage Earth systems risk, to help enable our return to a safe climate. Spark is currently working in the fields of methane removal, livestock enteric methane mitigation, and agricultural nitrogen management.