Space images uncover mega oil and gas leaks

Huge “clouds” of methane, a gas that contributes to global warming, have been mapped globally for the first time from oil and gas fields using satellites.

Controlling these leaks would be an important step towards gaining extra time to contain climate change.

The new research, published in the journal Science, found “clouds” covering vast areas, sometimes reaching 320 km. Most leaks are believed to be unintentional.

Last year, around 100 countries pledged to reduce methane emissions by 2030.

“We already knew about individual gas leaks, but this work shows the true methane footprint of oil and gas operations across the planet,” explains Riley Duren, author of the paper and executive director of Carbon Mapper, which tracks methane emissions. .

Methane often leaks from oil and gas facilities during maintenance operations, to fix a valve or pipeline, for example, or from compression stations — which maintain the flow and pressure of natural gas.

It also happens in landfills, in agriculture and in charcoal production.

This research focused on detecting oil and gas leaks that can be plugged if companies invest in prevention.

Scientists believe that reducing methane emissions is an “easy win” in combating climate change, because it is a very potent gas often released by humans in leaks that can be stopped relatively easily.

A study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggested last year that 30% to 50% of the current rise in temperatures is due to methane.

The scientist who led the research, Thomas Lauvaux, from LSCE CEA-Saclay in France, told BBC News that the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions often depends on reports authored by the countries or companies themselves.

But collecting atmospheric data “offers a more rigorous approach to accounting for emissions that is more independent and more transparent,” he explains.

The three countries with the biggest clouds identified in the latest survey were Turkmenistan, Russia and the US.

But the satellites have not measured leaks in areas with thick cloud cover or at high altitudes, including most of Canada and China. They also only measured “clouds” of ground installations.

Data were collected in 2019-2020 with the Tropomi instrument by the European Union’s Sentinel-5P satellite.

He identified the biggest of the leaks among so-called ultra-emitters, which account for about 12% of all methane leaks by oil and gas companies.

“I was shocked but not surprised by the widespread nature of these ultra-emitters. They are the tip of the iceberg,” Paul Palmer, a professor of geosciences at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told BBC News.

As more satellites are deployed over the next five years, some will detect methane at much higher resolution, meaning individual oil and gas facilities can be identified.

Billions savings

“Soon, with upcoming sensors, it will be harder for the oil and gas industry to claim to be unaware of leaks, whether accidental or not,” explains Palmer.

By plugging these leaks, countries could save billions — including $6 billion for Turkmenistan, $4 billion for Russia and $1.6 billion for the US, the research suggests.

In terms of environmental benefits, scientists estimate that stopping the leaks would prevent between 0.005°C and 0.002°C of warming.

That’s equivalent to removing all of Australia’s emissions since 2005 from the atmosphere, or the emissions from 20 million cars for a year, they suggest.

“Closing these very large leaks might seem like it would only play an insignificant role, but the social implications are significant,” explains Palmer.

“Every molecule counts as we try to minimize future warming.”

In November last year, more than 100 countries that attended the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow signed the Global Methane Commitment.

The goal is to reduce methane emissions by 30% compared to 2020 levels.