However, the IEA estimates that it is “technically possible to avoid around three-quarters of today’s methane emissions from global oil and gas operations” and about 45% at zero net cost. In short, with the right tech, market signals, and policy, we can tackle methane where Russia can or will not, and lead the world in the production of Responsibly Sourced Gas (RSG).

Here's the strategy:

• Deploy the monitoring technology of a growing number of startups, from lasers to pods to satellites to drones, to monitor and quantify methane emissions and leaks.

• Enhance regulations on methane emissions associated with Natural Gas production and distribution. Let's create a regulatory floor that no gas producer can go under, and that incentivizes them to go beyond. As one investor who covers this space warned me, “When you live in a world without regulation, the operators don’t give a shit; they’re not going to pay for the expensive solution.”

• Leverage the new trove of methane data to create a differentiated global market for natural gas, priced to preference the cleanest sources.

Methane monitoring technologies tend to attack the problem from three vantage points - space, the sky and the ground - and each has a role to play:

• Satellites are the macro data tool to capture large concentrations of emissions over broad geographical regions, helping to hold entire countries accountable. Environmental Defense Fund's MethaneSAT published 22 months of infrared Russian emissions data. Kayross Methane Watch and GHGSAT also offer established services.

• Sensors fixed to planes and drones provide long distance patrol capabilities: Drone applications like SeekOps, and airplane-mounted tech like Kairos Aerospace and Bridger Photonics, provide emissions snapshots at specific locations and facilities, whether on-shore or off, and can track many sites in a single flight.

• The sensiest ground-based sensors can provide continuous monitoring 24/7/365:  Project Canary uses site-level sensor technology that records emissions every minute, Andium installs methane cameras to assess entire sites, while Longpath Technologies deploys wide-range sensors to detect emissions across large areas and multiple facilities.

This last category is particularly consequential. If we’re going to get serious about limiting methane emissions, we need to deploy 24/7 monitoring wherever possible. Beyond enabling faster response to leaks, continuous  monitoring also provides the information that capital markets (i.e. ESG investors) and regulators (see the SEC’s new proposed climate disclosure rules) are starting to demand.

As with the CDR markets explored in last month's Gist, RSG markets need credible certification supported by a full range of technologies:

Credible Certification: The incentives of certifying organizations must be aligned with climate policy outcomes. Companies that provide monitoring services should not also be in the certification business. New entities like MiQ and Veritas are trying to get into the certification game, as are the Big Four accounting firms.

Tech-neutral regulation: The new draft EPA rule on fugitive methane emissions would require certain facilities to use a specific kind of technology - a camera - to take four methane emission snapshots a year, which would miss leaks the other 361 days. EPA shouldn’t be picking technologies, it should be focusing on outcomes. Tech that can deliver results 24/7/365 should be encouraged, if not required. The EPA still has time to fix this in the final rule.

The Russian war on Ukraine has led some commentators to pit climate advocacy and geopolitical demands against each other to advance short term economic or political interests. The bottom line is that both are critical, and we cannot abandon one for the other. So, in addition to sending javelins to Ukraine, let’s deploy our arsenal of tech and policy to fight a war on methane.