AIR MONITORING TALKINGPOINT


CHINA: DO WE NEED TO MONITOR ITS METHANE EMISSIONS DIFFERENTLY?


As global attention intensifi es on cutting short-lived climate pollutants like methane (CH₄), a critical question emerges: should China’s emissions be monitored differently than those of other countries?


The answer, increasingly, appears to be yes—and not just for political or economic reasons, but because the structure of China’s oil and gas emissions demands a more nuanced, spatially refi ned, and segment-specifi c approach to monitoring.


China has undergone a dramatic transformation in its energy infrastructure over the past few decades, particularly in its shift from coal to natural gas.


This shift, while positive in some respects, has led to a rapid rise in methane emissions, which have grown nearly eightfold from 0.5 Tg in 1990 to 4.0 Tg in 2022. But this growth is far from uniform.


China’s emissions are deeply shaped by geography, infrastructure, and data gaps—factors that differentiate it from countries with more mature, centralized energy systems.


A recent study, published in Nature Communications (2025), presents a comprehensive, high-resolution methane (CH₄) emissions inventory for China’s oil and gas sector from 1990 to 2022.1


How have methane emissions in China changed?


Using a bottom-up approach, the researchers developed a 0.1° × 0.1° gridded map that tracks over 80% of national CH₄ emissions by spatially allocating emissions across point, line, and fi eld sources such as production fi elds, pipelines, refi neries, and urban gas distribution networks.


The analysis reveals a dramatic sevenfold increase in emissions over the study period, primarily driven by the expansion of natural gas infrastructure, especially in unconventional gas fi elds in western China.


The study also highlights signifi cant spatial mismatches between production and consumption regions, as well as limitations in existing global methane inventories, offering a


refi ned methodology for targeted climate mitigation efforts.


Why traditional approaches to methane inventory fail for China One key issue is spatial heterogeneity.


Methane hotspots in China are overwhelmingly concentrated in a few western provinces like Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Xinjiang, where unconventional gas production—particularly from tight gas fi elds—dominates.


These regions account for a disproportionate share of national CH₄ emissions, yet benefi t less economically from the energy produced.


Meanwhile, demand is highest in densely populated eastern cities like Shanghai and Qingdao, creating a stark production- consumption mismatch. This has driven the construction of over 300 long-distance pipelines, each a potential source of leakage.


Traditional global methane inventories often rely on broad proxies like population density or uniform well distribution.


But such approaches fail in China, where gas infrastructure sprawls across diverse terrains, and emission factors vary widely depending on the segment—whether it’s upstream production, midstream transport, or downstream distribution.


Beyond the GFEI


The researchers revealed that earlier datasets like the Global Fuel Exploitation Inventory (GFEI) signifi cantly misallocated emissions, missing key fi eld-level hotspots and overestimating emissions in rural areas.


What China requires, therefore, is a form of emissions monitoring that is both more granular and more tailored.


The latest research has begun to deliver on this front, producing a 0.1°×0.1° gridded CH₄ emissions map built from point, line, and fi eld-level data, capturing over 80% of national emissions at likely source locations.


This includes segment-specifi c mapping of gas processing


Call for papers: 2025 methane monitoring conference


The Scientifi c Committee of the International Methane Measurement Conference (IMMC) is pleased to call for papers for IMM 2025, taking place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 24th to 26th September 2025.


Held alongside CEM 2025, an international conference and


exhibition on emissions and air quality monitoring, IMM 2025 will provide a dedicated platform for researchers, industry professionals, technology developers, and regulators to share expertise and advance the science, policy, and technology behind methane detection and mitigation.


We invite submissions for both oral and poster presentations on the following topics: • Scientifi c understanding, regulation, and policy • Industrial case studies and application of current capabilities • Demonstration and validation of novel technologies and techniques • Sensors, instruments, and emerging technology • Future capabilities and industrial needs • Standardisation, method development, and quality We are particularly interested in contributions that include: • Field validation and performance data • Research and innovation in detection and quantifi cation • Regulatory approaches and policy implications • Industry-led methane reduction strategies • Measurement uncertainties and best practice guidance Please note that abstracts must be technical and non-commercial in nature. Abstract submission deadline: 23rd May 2025.


For More Info, EMAIL: EMAIL:


64501pr@reply-direct.com


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Satellite imagery of Sichuan Basin. Public domain. plants, urban pipelines, offshore platforms, and production fi elds.


But precision is only half the equation. Equitable responsibility is the other.


We need to update how China does emissions accounting


As the study points out, the bulk of emissions occur in western regions that bear the environmental cost, while energy benefi ts accrue to the east.


Monitoring frameworks should therefore inform not just mitigation strategies but also policy mechanisms for resource redistribution—perhaps requiring eastern provinces to invest in emission-reducing technologies in the west.


Ultimately, China’s case challenges the global methane mitigation community to move beyond one-size-fi ts-all accounting.


A country as geographically, industrially, and infrastructurally diverse as China demands a monitoring approach that refl ects its unique energy geography.


Without this, both domestic policy and international climate goals will remain out of reach.


1


Structural shifts in China’s oil and gas CH4 emissions with implications for mitigation efforts. Luo et al. Nature Communications. 2025.


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