Nearly half of oil and gas emissions could be cut without spending a penny

As the world's economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for oil and gas is set to increase — and so is the emission of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with 80 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide. The fossil fuel industry is one of the biggest sources of human-generated methane emissions, emitting 70 metric tons of the polluting gas last year — roughly equivalent to all the carbon dioxide produced by the European Union. 

Now for the good news: About 40% of methane emissions from oil and gas production can be eliminated without costing a cent, the U.S. Energy Information Agency said in a recent report. Cutting down that number "is among the most cost-effective and impactful actions that governments can take to achieve global climate goals," according to the agency.