The fifth session of the Carbon Neutrality and Energy System Transformation (CNEST) Frontiers Seminar was successfully held at Tsinghua University’s Institute for Carbon Neutrality on May 16. Dr. Xie Donglai, Senior Scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Scientific Advisor to UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), delivered a lecture titled “Over a Decade of Oil and Gas Methane Measurement: Findings, Impacts, and Challenges.”

Dr. Xie provided a systematic overview of large-scale methane measurement efforts in the global oil and gas sector since 2012, covering methods such as handheld devices, mobile ground monitoring, aerial surveys, and satellite remote sensing. He highlighted significant discrepancies between national emission inventories and actual measurements in both total volume and sectoral distribution. Methane emissions exhibit strong spatiotemporal heterogeneity and a skewed distribution. Citing Canada’s 2023 methane inventory—the first nationally compiled using aerial measurement data—he demonstrated how empirical data has improved facility- and basin-level emission accounting and enabled more targeted mitigation strategies, verified through ongoing measurements.

However, Dr. Xie also pointed out remaining challenges, including non-ergodic emissions, technical limitations of detection methods, significant individual measurement errors, and incomplete understanding of emission rate distributions, calling for further scientific investigation.

The seminar was chaired by Professor Lu Xi, Assistant to the Dean of the Institute. Attendees included researchers from Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sinopec, and other institutions. Following the talk, Professor Lu presented Dr. Xie with a commemorative plaque.

The CNEST Frontiers Seminar Series is organized by the CNEST Multilateral Cooperation Program and the World Carbon Neutrality Society (preparatory), and hosted by Tsinghua’s Institute for Carbon Neutrality. It aims to facilitate exchanges on cutting-edge research, industrial developments, and policy trends in carbon neutrality and energy transition.