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RMI and OTS R&D conducted laboratory tests on residential split systems and packaged rooftop units to determine if reclaimed R-410A refrigerant, processed to AHRI 700 standards, performs differently than virgin refrigerant. The results showed no statistically significant differences in heating capacity, cooling capacity, or energy efficiency across all tested operating conditions. The report argues that scaling refrigerant recovery and reclamation is essential to bridge the structural gap between declining HFC production under the AIM Act and the ongoing servicing demand for existing equipment, particularly for R-410A, which served approximately 85% of US residential and 92% of light commercial cooling systems in 2022.

The document analyzes the use of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) to finance the plugging of orphaned oil and gas wells in North America to reduce methane emissions. It evaluates four existing methodologies (ACR, BCarbon, CarbonPath, and OCP), noting that while these projects offer strong additionality and significant co-benefits, they face challenges regarding emissions quantification and long-term permanence due to a lack of empirical data on orphaned well behavior. The report provides a risk framework for buyers and developers, highlighting the tension between industry expertise in producing wells and the uncertainty of non-producing, abandoned wellbores.

The report examines the impact of New York's CLCPA greenhouse gas accounting method, which differs from the UNFCCC standard. It finds that the CLCPA approach increases the distance to statutory targets and alters cost-effective abatement strategies, though substantial reductions remain necessary regardless of the method used. The authors argue that marginal abatement cost data for different gases and sectors is essential for evaluating the 2025 New York State Energy Plan.

The report examines how Brazil's agribusiness sector, despite being the country's largest climate polluter, maintains a privileged position through lobbying and 'corporate capture'. It highlights the omission of agricultural methane from Brazil's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and warns that industry-led efforts at COP30, such as the 'AgriZone', aim to position the sector as a climate solution while resisting meaningful regulation.

The report argues that methane emissions from coking coal mining are a significant but under-accounted 'blind spot' in the steel industry's climate impact. It highlights that coking coal is more methane-intensive than thermal coal and that Australian mines, which supply over half of the global seaborne coking coal market, consistently underreport these emissions. Using IEA data and GWP20 metrics, the report estimates that mining emissions can add 10% to 17% to the emission intensity of blast furnace steel, with some 'gassiest' mines potentially doubling the climate footprint. It concludes that nearly half of these emissions could be abated using existing technologies at a cost lower than the market price of Australian Carbon Credit Units.

The report argues that shifting from prescriptive 'recipe-based' concrete specifications to performance-based standards (PSS) is essential for scaling low-carbon concrete and meeting climate goals. It identifies key bottlenecks—specifically the lack of a standardized suite of tests for durability and workability—and proposes a collaborative model where project stakeholders (owners, engineers, contractors, and labs) use real-world projects as testbeds to gather data. The document outlines specific roles for each stakeholder, provides case studies from DOTs and private firms, and suggests starting points for testing strength, durability, and workability to build a robust, industry-wide PSS.

This policy brief argues that the current reliance on a single 100-year metric for greenhouse gas emissions obscures the distinct warming impacts of methane and carbon dioxide. The author advocates for a "multi-basket" approach with separate targets and dual metrics to address both short-term and long-term climate risks, asserting that simultaneous mitigation of both pollutants is essential to meet global temperature targets and reduce climate overshoot.

The OCI+ tool reveals that global oil and gas resources vary by up to five times in life-cycle emissions intensity. The document emphasizes that supply-side emissions from production, refining, and transport can rival end-use consumption, making the identification of high-emitting assets critical for short-term climate action. It highlights methane reduction as the highest priority, noting that methane accounts for over half of operational emissions and advocating for the use of a 20-year global warming potential (GWP20) to accurately assess climate risks.

The report critiques the GWP* (Global Warming Potential Star) metric, arguing that while it may be useful for specific climate modeling, its application to national or sectoral policy is unfair and scientifically misleading. Unlike the standard GWP, which uses a zero-emission baseline, GWP* evaluates current emissions relative to past levels, potentially rewarding countries with historically high emissions and penalizing developing nations. The authors contend that this approach can be used to justify continued methane pollution, particularly in the livestock sector, and advocate for a 'multi-basket' approach that sets separate targets for short-lived pollutants like methane and long-lived gases like CO2 to ensure equitable and effective climate action.

Indonesia is significantly underreporting its coal mine methane (CMM) emissions, with official figures being six to seven times lower than independent estimates. The report identifies critical flaws in the current reporting framework, including the use of inaccurate emission factors, outdated global warming potential (GWP) values, and the total exclusion of underground coal mines. These gaps risk undermining Indonesia's commitments under the Global Methane Pledge. The author recommends transitioning to higher-tier IPCC estimation methods, implementing data disaggregation at the mine level, and improving public transparency to ensure climate targets are met and mine worker safety is enhanced.

The guide outlines four strategic initiatives for state DOTs to reduce the embodied carbon of concrete infrastructure: integrating Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) into procurement, adjusting material specifications to allow higher supplementary cementitious material (SCM) content, demonstrating Performance Engineered Mixture (PEM) designs, and piloting innovative near-zero or zero-emissions materials.

The report finds that global coal mine methane (CMM) emissions may be up to twice as high as government figures reported to the UNFCCC. It highlights a systemic failure in measurement, noting that 97% of reported emissions rely on generic emission factors rather than direct measurement. The analysis identifies 22 countries that may be underreporting emissions by more than 100%, with severe discrepancies noted in South Africa, Indonesia, and Germany. Ember recommends mandatory direct measurement for all mines, the use of satellite verification, and international financial support for low-income countries to implement these standards.

The policy brief highlights a systemic gap between self-reported methane emissions in the US oil and gas sector and actual emissions measured via remote sensing. It argues that current EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) guidelines rely on simplistic assumptions that miss 'super-emitting' events, leading to underestimations of emissions by factors of two to four. This data gap threatens the efficacy of the Inflation Reduction Act's (IRA) Waste Emissions Charge, potentially resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost fees. The author calls for the integration of empirical data and updated reporting categories to improve transparency, incentivize mitigation, and ensure accurate pricing of methane emissions.

Ember's analysis indicates that Whitehaven Coal Limited could release over 1.2 million tonnes of methane by 2050, with emissions potentially doubling by 2030 due to planned expansions. The report highlights severe discrepancies in reporting, noting that the Narrabri mine's actual emissions have been nearly five times higher than final EIS estimates. Ember argues that Whitehaven's use of internal emission factors for open-cut mines—which are often significantly lower than Australian averages—leads to underreporting. The report recommends third-party verification, improved transparency, and a 75% reduction in portfolio-wide methane emissions by 2030 to align with 1.5 degree pathways.

The guide explains how Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) function as 'nutrition labels' for building materials by reporting life-cycle assessment (LCA) data, specifically Global Warming Potential (GWP). It argues that current EPDs suffer from inconsistencies due to varying data sources and proprietary datasets. To achieve an 'ideal EPD' that supports fair carbon reduction policies, the author recommends that Product Category Rules (PCRs) mandate facility-specific data, limit product variation within single reported values, and require supply-chain-specific data for upstream processes. The document also identifies barriers to adoption, such as high up-front costs for small businesses and the lack of a universal public database, while noting US government initiatives like the EPA's grant program and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 aimed at advancing EPD development.

The report evaluates the CCIA for the Tetra4 Cluster 2 gas field expansion, which includes up to 400 test wells and 300 production wells. The author argues that the CCIA fails to meet South African legal requirements for a full life-cycle emissions assessment, specifically citing the omission of Scope 3 emissions from the final impact determination and several errors in Scope 1 calculations. Key technical failures identified include the use of outdated global warming potential (GWP) values, unrealistic flaring efficiency assumptions, and the omission of methane emissions from well drilling and operational gas production. Additionally, the report finds that the CCIA provides an unsupported claim that the project's LNG will replace more GHG-emitting fuels, while failing to account for the transport of 40% of the produced LNG.

The briefing examines the debate over New York's transition to a 20-year global warming potential (GWP20) timeframe and the inclusion of upstream and biogenic emissions. It argues that this accounting method increases the avoided temperature rise by 66% compared to old methods and could avoid up to $240 billion in damages. The author contends that changing the accounting timeframe does not increase physical emissions and that affordability can be maintained through strategic policy design and federal funding.

The report highlights that methane emissions from coking coal mining add approximately 27% to the 20-year global warming impact of the steel industry. It argues that while the sector focuses on carbon capture (CCUS) and hydrogen, it ignores readily available technologies to reduce CMM. The document recommends that steelmakers only purchase coal from suppliers with net-zero compatible methane reduction plans and that policymakers include methane in carbon border adjustment mechanisms.

The report establishes a baseline emissions inventory for the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region, identifying transportation, agriculture, and residential heating as primary emission sources. It details a methodology aligned with New York State and IPCC guidelines, providing county-level breakdowns and a baseline projection that suggests a slight increase in total emissions by 2050.

The report details the methodology of the Klimatkalkylatorn version 2.0, which calculates individual carbon footprints based on four consumption areas: housing, food, transport, and shopping. It utilizes 2019 data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) and other sources to assign emission factors to spending and usage patterns. The tool incorporates Global Warming Potential (GWP) over 100 years for CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide, and compares individual results against Swedish and global averages, as well as a 2030 target of 4 tonnes of CO2e per person.