MEMO2: MEthane goes MObile – MEasurements and MOdelling

MEMO² was a 4-years European Training Network with more than 20 collaborators from 7 countries. The project contributed significantly to the targets of the EU with a focus on methane (CH₄). CH₄ emissions are a major contributor to Europe’s global warming impact, and the official inventories of emissions and estimates derived from direct atmospheric measurement show significant discrepancies. However, effective emission reduction can only be achieved if sources are properly quantified, and mitigation efforts are verified. MEMO² contributed to advanced combinations of measurement and modelling which are needed to achieve such quantification.

With respect to the recently released EU methane strategy and the implementation of independent verification of emissions by atmospheric measurements, we will present some examples of relevant results from MEMO² up to now:

Urban CH₄ emissions: We can now detect and quantify CH₄ leaks in cities at the street-level with mobile nigh precision analysers. Similar studies have been carried out in >10 EU cities and in collaboration with interested network operators those measurements are ready to be rolled out at larger scale.

Oil and gas production: We carried out a large study in the oil and gas production region in Romania (ROMEO), with aircraft, drones and vehicles. The final results are close to publication and help to improve the emission verification.

Coal mining: In collaboration with CoMet, another science project, we quantified the CH₄ emissions from the Upper Silesian coal mining area. The collaboration and its results contribute to the development of an independent and objective emission monitoring system

Modelling: Micro-scale plume modelling is significantly improved. Those models e.g. help to simulate a measurement day as we had during our field campaign in Romania and improve sampling and measurement strategies.