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Methane to Markets Soars: $4.5 Million Provides a Global Clean Energy Boost

Capturing methane from landfills and other sources is paving the way to a clean, green energy source and reducing greenhouse gases in the fight against climate change. Through the Methane to Markets Partnership (M2M), EPA is funding 20 projects that will help 12 countries increase their capture and use of methane from the landfill, coal, agriculture, and oil and natural gas sectors. These projects will receive more than $4.5 million in M2M grants from EPA.

"Climate change is a global issue that requires a global solution," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By leveraging $4.5 million in grants, EPA and our international partners are reducing methane emissions and realizing a clean, reliable energy source."

Grants ranging from $90,000 to $700,000 are being awarded to help finance M2M projects in Argentina, Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Poland, Thailand and Ukraine. The grants will fund a wide variety of M2M activities designed to remove technical or informational barriers currently interfering with the successful capture and use of methane around the world.

Among the services provided are training, development of databases on potential project sites, feasibility studies, technology transfer and project analysis. The grants build on the earlier success of a 2007 solicitation and provide significant new funding.

Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is more than 20 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. As the primary component of natural gas, methane is a valuable and clean-burning energy resource.

Information about the grant awardees and their projects: http://www.epa.gov/methanetomarkets/grants08.htm

Information on M2M: http://www.epa.gov/methanetomarkets or http://www.methanetomarkets.org

Grant Recipients:

Landfill Gas:

Argentina, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires

Brazil, Fundação Promar

China, The Environmental Sanitation Engineering Tech Research Center

Ecuador, The Municipality of Guayaquil

India, The Institute for Environmental Management Inc.

Poland, The Oil and Gas Institute

Nigeria, Center for People and the Environment

Ukraine, Renewable Energy Agency