Accelerated Methane Reduction

Designing a Future Interdisciplinary and Shared Research Agenda to Understand the Role of Methane Reduction in the Energy Transition

Designing a Future Interdisciplinary and Shared Research Agenda to Understand the Role of Methane Reduction in the Energy Transition

In North America and across the globe, energy systems are under strain as supply struggles to keep pace with demand. Data center developers, manufacturers, utility companies and the economies of Asia and Europe – among many other stakeholders – are scrambling to find secure and affordable energy sources due to infrastructure bottlenecks and geopolitical threats.

In this new reality, a promising source of additional energy has emerged: Natural gas that is currently being wasted in the form of fugitive methane emissions.

The Payne Institute for Public Policy created the Accelerated Methane Reduction Initiative to connect the world-class expertise of the Colorado School of Mines with global conversations about natural gas, energy security, affordability and climate change.

IMPACT

In the U.S. oil and gas sector, capturing wasted natural gas could meet one-third of the anticipated needs from new data centers by 2030.

Globally, flaring reduction and other methane mitigation efforts could boost the supply of natural gas by around 200 billion cubic meters per year – or double the amount of LNG imported by China in 2025.

In addition to these wins for energy affordability and security of supply, capturing wasted natural gas in the form of fugitive methane emissions can make a powerful difference in the fight against climate change.

Eliminating methane emissions across global oil and gas supply chains would have the same climate impact as converting every car and truck in the world to run on zero-carbon sources of electricity.

Mines and the world

The Payne Institute extends to public policy Mines’ conviction that energy and the environment must– and can – fruitfully coexist. We are in an enviable position to tap into a deep well of on-campus and alumni leaders in industry and environmental groups around the world. We foster collaboration with a focus on problem-solving rather than furthering entrenched agendas.

COLORADO

Colorado has been at the forefront of establishing regulations for the oil and gas industry and working in a coherent inclusive manner between the industry and other stakeholders. That form of broad engagement based on science should continue. It will serve to both evolve the discussion in the state and at the local level, but also serve as a lodestar for the national and global discussion.

For more information about the Accelerated Methane Reduction Initiative at the Payne Institute for Public Policy, please contact our Deputy Director, Gregory Clough, at gclough@mines.edu.

NEWS

Cleaner Gas, Smarter Design: A Practical Path to Lower-Emissions Power

Cleaner Gas, Smarter Design: A Practical Path to Lower-Emissions Power

Payne Institute Energy Finance Lab Director Brad Handler and Student Researcher Matthew Safran write about how lower-emissions gas sourcing, efficient combined-cycle generation, and carbon capture-ready construction offer hyperscalers a way to meet data center power demands without compromising on emissions.  September 1, 2026.

TERA Puts an Indian Tribe in Charge of Its Energy 8/21/2026

TERA Puts an Indian Tribe in Charge of Its Energy

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian writes about how on May 11 the Interior Department approved the nation’s first Tribal Energy Resource Agreement. It allows the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of southwestern Colorado to approve its own energy-related leases, rights of way and business agreements without federal sign-off.  August 21, 2026.

The geometry of shortage: Part 1 8/6/2026

The geometry of shortage: Part 1

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Fellow Jamie Webster write about how the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran spiked oil prices and prompted large releases from reserves, but such moves only buy time.  August 6, 2026.

Pakistan’s Solar Surge 8/3/2026

Pakistan’s Solar Surge

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Debabrata Chattopadhyay write about how Pakistan has become one of the world’s largest importers of solar panels. This is one of the most consequential energy transformations underway in any developing economy, and one that carries particular significance given the war with Iran.  August 3, 2026.

Months after Pemex gas well accident in Mexico, health and pollution concerns grow 7/31/2026

Months after Pemex gas well accident in Mexico, health and pollution concerns grow

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin contributed to this article about how nearly five months after an accident ignited a fire at a natural gas well in rural Veracruz, Mexico, residents are growing ​increasingly concerned about potential health and environmental impacts as large volumes ‌of gas continue to burn.  July 31, 2026.

The Impacts of the Iran War on LPG for Cooking 7/27/2026

The Impacts of the Iran War on LPG for Cooking

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian writes about how when the United States and Israel struck Iran on February 28, 2026, one the conflict’s largest impact in some developing economies was gas for cooking. July 27, 2027.

The oil futures curve is a balance sheet 7/16/2026

The oil futures curve is a balance sheet

Payne Institute Fellow Jamie Webster and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the curve provides insight into inventory tightness, storage incentives, physical stress and the direction of inventory movements; it is not a forecast.  July 16, 2026.

Bridging Energy and Decarbonization with Deb Ryan 7/10/2026

Bridging Energy and Decarbonization with Deb Ryan

The Payne Institute is a proud partner with the Mines Future Energy Scholar Mackenzie Marquis to present her interview with Deb Ryan, Swan Mountain Advisory Founder and CEO, discussing carbon markets, decarbonization, and how emissions reduction is becoming part of the future of energy careers.  July 10, 2026.

The US paper fleet: The Jones Act and the 2026 Iran war stress test 7/8/2026

The US paper fleet: The Jones Act and the 2026 Iran war stress test

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek, and Fellows Alex Gilbert and Jamie Webster write about how the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20 percent of global oil supplies, and 30 percent of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies was precisely the kind of national security emergency the Jones Act was designed to weather.  Instead, the Iran crisis triggered a cascade of failures and forced the White House to admit that the Jones Act itself was a liability.  July 8, 2026.

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