New rules announced recently by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requiring the more rigorous tracking of methane emissions, particularly from the oil and gas sectors, is welcome news. Methane, which as a greenhouse gas is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide, is often overlooked in climate-change policies and regulations.

But consider this: Nearly a quarter of all methane emissions in the United States come from the oil and gas industry, enough to equal the greenhouse gas emissions from 24 coal plants, according to the EPA. Much of this is fugitive emissions — methane that escapes when oil and gas wells are drilled, at refineries, and along natural gas pipelines. Like the U.S., Canada does not currently have a national registry that tracks fugitive emissions, even though such emissions represented an estimated 8 per cent of all greenhouse-gas emissions in the country in 2006. For a background, check out this article I wrote in January 2009 for the Toronto Star.

Getting a handle on methane emissions from the oil and gas sectors is more important than ever. For one, North America is going to rely more on natural gas for power generation over the coming decade as a cheaper alternative to nuclear, cleaner alternative to coal, and to manage rising amounts of wind and solar being added to the grid. Second, more of that gas is going to come from shale and it will rely on a process that fractures the rock. It’s unclear, to me at least, whether increased shale gas extraction could lead to a dramatic increase in fugitive emissions resulting from the process.

Good on the EPA for sensing the need to track this potent gas more closely.

My Clean Break column today takes a look at “fugitive” emissions — typically methane — from the natural gas and oil sectors in Canada. I like to call them the industry’s dirty not-so-little secret, because when we think of fossil fuels we think mostly about the emissions that result from their combustion. But not as much, if any, public attention has been drawn to the unintentional (i.e. leaks) and intentional (i.e. venting) of methane at processing facilities and along pipeline infrastructure. Fugitive emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sectors in 2006 amounted to the equivalent of about 60 megatonnes of CO2, up 65 per cent since 1990. Surprisingly, this represents nearly 8 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. As you’ll read from the column, the biggest problem is a lack of regulation and ability to detect these emissions. Once that’s solved, often it’s just a matter of tightening a bolt.