China commits to methane emission control action plan

China has made public an action plan dedicated to methane emission control on Wednesday, vowing a series of specific targets in different sectors.

The utilization of methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, in oil and gas exploitation and coal mining will be strengthened, said the document issued by 11 national government bodies, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

By 2025, for instance, the coalmining sector is expected to collect 6 billion cubic meters of coal bed gas, which contains methane, for utilization, it said.

The action plan also pledges to ram up the utilization of dung from the livestock sector, which is another significant emitter of methane.

One of the priorities is to improve facilities for storage and disposal of dung in livestock farms, it said. Efforts will be made to promote closed systems for dung disposal.

In rural China, the country will encourage the construction of anaerobic digesters to capture methane from the manure. Incentive mechanism will be introduced to encourage the use of methane for heating and power generation, it said.

The country aims to have at least 80 percent of dung in the livestock sector utilized by 2025, it said. By 2030, the proportion is expected to increase to more than 85 percent.