For the last six months, Clean Air Task Force has been documenting never-before-seen methane emissions in the oil and gas industry around Europe using a special infrared camera. We have been shocked and surprised by the extent of emissions we found in just a few short months. The videos show that the European oil and gas industry is no cleaner than other industries around the world.
On June 24, 2021, we released a library of nearly 50 videos from Germany, Hungary, and Italy. This is just the beginning. We will be continuing to release more videos from other countries throughout the summer and fall.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with 80 times greater climate warming potential than carbon dioxide over a twenty-year period. If we have any hope of reining in the worst impacts of climate change over the next three decades, we must act now to reduce methane emissions.
A recent study released by an independent panel of scientists for the UN Environmental Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition found that with a 45 percent reduction of methane from all sources by 2030, we can save 0.3C degrees of global warming over the next two decades. The oil and gas sector is one of the largest contributors to methane worldwide, and it is the easiest target for methane abatement.
A reduction of methane emissions in the oil and gas sector can often be implemented at negative or marginal costs, making use of existing technologies and best practice. In fact, reducing methane leakages and fugitive emissions in many cases saves the natural gas product that these companies are selling to us.
Currently, we are relying on companies to voluntarily reduce their emissions. As you can see from the videos that we have published, this has not been going well. We have found large scale emissions at storage sites, operational leakages at gas transmission facilities, and small leaks and holes in malfunctioning equipment:
- At Italy’s largest gas storage facility 20 minutes northeast of Bologna, we found an extremely large leak coming out of the central chimney at the facility, a nearly 70-meter-high stack that towers over the landscape. It’s almost mesmerizing to watch the stream of methane trail across the sky as the video pans below to show the expanse of the facility.
- At one oil and gas processing center in Pineto, Italy, we found a rusted hole in a storage tank that was releasing gas into the atmosphere. We made several attempts to warn the company, Eni, about our findings, but they shrugged us off on three separate occasions.
- In southern Hungary, in the country’s main oil and gas production field, we found several large storage tanks releasing significant amounts of gas into the atmosphere. Big plumes are released from the tops of the tanks to release pressure without any vapor recovery system put in place to capture the gas.
- In Germany, the country with the most gas consumption in Europe, and an extensive pipeline infrastructure, we found several large transmission compressor stations venting methane from the central relief stacks in Mallnow, in Rothenstadt, and in Waidhaus.
We know that the European Commission has new rules to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector on its agenda. The debate on exactly which policies need to be introduced will continue throughout 2021 and into the next year. We have learned that the operational practices within countries across the bloc are too varied and too diverse. Some local and national regulations actively go against what we know to be best practices for reducing methane emissions.
The EU needs a strong and effective leak detection and repair program to quickly find leaks when they occur. There should be tight regulations on when companies are allowed to flare gas and when they are allowed to vent it directly into the atmosphere. Finally, the introduction of an import standard, that sets rules on allowable quantities of emissions from production regions that sell their oil and gas to EU members, can significantly reduce emissions around the world.
These new rules, if properly and quickly implemented within in the next two years, have the potential to reduce nearly 70 percent of the methane emissions in the oil and gas sector in Europe and make a big dent in the reduction of emissions globally.
Our evidence has garnered attention around the world, surprising many who thought the issue of leaking oil and gas infrastructure was an issue only in other parts of the world. The European Commission now has a fantastic opportunity to emerge as the world leader on cutting methane emissions. It’s now up to them to take that step.