Breakthroughs in the Severny Stream gas pipeline system in the Baltic Sea, probably, led to the largest of the ever-registered emissions of methane, which causes serious damage to the climate, the UN Environment program (UNEP) said. It is reported by Reuters.
Researchers associated with UNEP, studying satellite pictures found a huge train of highly concentrated methane. “This is really bad, most likely, this is the largest of the emissions ever discovered,” said UNEP, Manfrede Kaltajiron. “And this does not help us at the moment when, on the contrary, it is necessary to greatly reduce emissions.”
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Researchers from the Canadian organization GHGSAT, which uses satellites to monitor methane emissions, estimated the leak rate at one of the four rupture points of 22,920 kilograms per hour. This is equivalent to burning about 286 tons of coal every hour, the GHGSAT statement said.
The total volume of methane leakage from Gazprom’s pipeline system may be higher than as a result of a large leakage that occurred in December at the oil and gas shelf in the Mexican Waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Kaltajiron said.