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Bulgaria Becomes 29th Member of International Partnership to Reduce Methane Emissions

Release Date: 05/27/2009
Contact Information: Dave Ryan, 202-564-7827 / 4355 / ryan.dave@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. – May 27, 2009) Bulgaria has become the 29th country to join the international climate change initiative called Methane to Markets (M2M). The M2M partnership is comprised of more than 900 public and private sector organizations, as well as countries, including the European Commission.

Bulgaria will focus its efforts on promoting landfill projects that will capture methane emissions for beneficial use. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere.

EPA estimates that within 10 years the Methane to Markets partnership program has the potential to reduce annual methane emissions by more than 180 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, approximately the annual emissions from 50 million cars.

In related developments, EPA is co-hosting the second Methane to Markets Partnership Expo, to be held March 2-5, 2010, in New Delhi, India, along with the Government of India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The expo’s “International Methane Capture Marketplace” is the premier international forum devoted to the promotion of project opportunities and technologies related to methane recovery and use. The call for presentations for this conference has just opened.

Methane to Markets promotes methane capture and use projects internationally through coordination with country partners, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations, focusing on promoting methane capture and use from four sources of methane: Agriculture (animal waste management), coal mines, landfills, and oil and gas systems.

More information on the partnership: https://www.epa.gov/methanetomarkets

More information on the expo: http://www.methanetomarkets.org/expo