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

As the world confronts an energy transition, the global energy system is being re-imagined and the role of methane reduction in that transition is not entirely clear. Governments are pursuing increasingly ambitious initiatives to reduce methane emissions and diversify their energy systems. At the same time, the world is facing significant energy demand growth from emerging and developing economies. The dual pressures of reducing their carbon footprint, while also providing the necessary resources to fuel energy growth creates another layer of complexity for the oil and gas industry.

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

How the Voluntary Carbon Market Can Fund Orphan Well Remediation 11/7/2025

How the Voluntary Carbon Market Can Fund Orphan Well Remediation

Payne Institute Energy Finance Lab Director Brad Handler writes about how there are an estimated 1 million wells in the U.S., most drilled in a pre-regulatory era, that are orphaned and have either never been plugged or not to current standards that also emit collectively a lot of methane.  States are left to plug and handle any necessary remediation. Born out of this burden is the idea to use the Voluntary Carbon Markets, or VCM, to raise funds to plug these wells.  November 7, 2025.

Moore Foundation Funds Colorado Mines to Advance Biochar Concrete: A Path to Reducing Cement by 50% 10/13/2025

Moore Foundation Funds Colorado Mines to Advance Biochar Concrete: A Path to Reducing Cement by 50%

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Dr. Lori Tunstall, of Colorado School of Mines, received $1 million from the Moore Foundation to research using municipal solid waste to create biochar. This biochar replaces up to 50% of cement in concrete, aiming to drastically reduce carbon emissions from both construction and landfills.  October 13, 2025.

IHFTC Opens in Oman With Panel on the Future of Middle East Unconventional Development 9/23/2025

IHFTC Opens in Oman With Panel on the Future of Middle East Unconventional Development

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jennifer Miskimins contributed to this article about how the SPE International Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and Exhibition (IHFTC)opened its fourth edition in Muscat this week with an executive panel stressing cost discipline, sustainability, and the need for the Middle East region to learn at a faster pace than was demonstrated by the US shale experience.  September 23, 2025.

Sustainable Development: Are We Asking the Right Questions? 9/17/2025

Sustainable Development: Are We Asking the Right Questions?

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jim Crompton is on this podcast discussing the future of energy, the importance of asking the right questions in energy transition, and the need for common ground in discussions about sustainable development. Jim emphasizes the significance of bettering human lives, the role of water in energy, and the necessity of humility in addressing complex energy challenges. The conversation also highlights the importance of local solutions and the inclusion of indigenous voices in energy discussions.  September 17, 2025.

Powering the US Data Center Boom With Wasted Natural Gas 9/9/2025

Powering the US Data Center Boom With Wasted Natural Gas

Payne Institute Accelerated Methane Reduction Initiative Director Simon Lomax, Director Morgan Bazilian, and Deputy Director Greg Clough write about how a data center boom in the US is straining the grid and pushing up energy costs. Meeting demand will require every available resource, but one solution lies in wasted natural gas. Capturing fugitive methane could supply an important part of new demand, cut emissions and support energy security.  September 9, 2025.

Lessons from social sciences could move community engagement on industrial decarbonization projects from “public relations” to meaningful impact 9/8/2025

Lessons from social sciences could move community engagement on industrial decarbonization projects from “public relations” to meaningful impact

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jessica Smith is featured in this article about her new research in Nature Communications that calls on energy developers to incorporate state-of-art knowledge to ensure decarbonization projects benefit communities that choose to host them.  September 8, 2025.  

An Improved Calibration for Satellite Estimation of Flared Gas Volumes from VIIRS Nighttime Data 9/8/2025

An Improved Calibration for Satellite Estimation of Flared Gas Volumes from VIIRS Nighttime Data

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Mikhail Zhizhin, Christopher D. Elvidge, Tamara Sparks, Tilottama Ghosh, Morgan Bazilian and Feng-Chi Hsu write about how the VIIRS Nightfire (VNF) data product is particularly useful for monitoring of global natural gas flaring and estimation of flared gas volumes. In this paper we report on the development of an empirical calibration for estimating flared gas volumes based on VIIRS observations of flares running at low, medium, and high flared gas volumes. Tests were run with both single and double flares, with and without atmospheric correction.  September 8, 2025.

Storing carbon underground? There’s less room than we thought, new study suggests 9/3/2025

Storing carbon underground? There’s less room than we thought, new study suggests

Payne Institute Geothermal and CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield contributed to this article about how a new estimate suggests carbon storage is a scarce resource to be used wisely.  A study, led by researchers in the U.K., Austria and the U.S., analyzed a wider range of risk factors than conventional assessments of carbon storage potential.   September 3, 2025.  

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