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

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.

Orphan Well Carbon Crediting Methodologies: A Review of Quantification Practices and Proposal to Incorporate Leak Forecasting 6/25/2026

Orphan Well Carbon Crediting Methodologies: A Review of Quantification Practices and Proposal to Incorporate Leak Forecasting

Payne Institute Energy Finance Lab Director Brad Handler writes about how hastening the plugging of orphan wells in the U.S., for climate, environmental and human health purposes, is encouraging the pursuit of private sources of financing through the voluntary carbon market (VCM).  The largest remaining challenge to the integrity of orphan well crediting methodologies is timing, or when the plugged well would likely have emitted methane.  June 25, 2026.

How Artificial Intelligence Data Centers Are Reshaping the Regulatory Architecture of U.S. Electricity 6/23/2026

How Artificial Intelligence Data Centers Are Reshaping the Regulatory Architecture of U.S. Electricity

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Brandon N. Owens write about how AI data centers are stressing U.S. power regulation. The article argues for verified large-load governance: milestone-based forecasting, cost-causation tariffs, flexible service classes, operational visibility, and coordinated federal-state oversight.  June 23, 2026.

World Economic Forum – Energy Transition Index 2026 6/18/2026

World Economic Forum – Energy Transition Index 2026

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian has been on the Advisory Board for the World Economic Forum’s Flagship EIT Report since its inception more than a decade ago, and still a contributor today.  June 18, 2026.

Read All News