And because methane is invisible and odorless, it can be deductible and expose to monitor it and prevent it from going out. As a response, researchers and environmental activists say that industry probably publishes Much more than official government estimates show.
Methane also infiltrates from coal mines – more methane, news, than the Remembli during the production of natural gas, which, after all, is mainly methane. EMPER, a clean energy reflection group, has set up this Large interactive visual Showing how it happens.
The short version is that methane is integrated into coal deposits and that minors dig to expose the seams of coal, gas escapes and continues to do so long after a coal mine reaches the end of operational life. Since coal minors focus on the extraction of coal, they do not often die the amount of methane they let out, and the regulars do not pay much attention.
According to EMBER, methane emissions from coal mines could be 60% higher than official accounts. The abandoned coal mines are espiical harmful, Emi -Downty more than the abandoned oil and gas wells. Helped, methane issued by coal mines from around the world has the same warming effect on the climate as annual annual carbon dioxide emissions from India.
Alarmed by the gaps in data, some non -profit organizations have taken on them to try to get a better image of methane emissions on a global scale using ground sensors, air monitors, and and and Even satellites. In 2024, the environmental defense fund launched Methanesat, which transported instruments that can measure methane production from small discreet sources in a large area.
Ritesh GautamMethanesat’s main scientist, explained that the project had revealed superimposed methane issuers. Since the launch, Methanesat has discovered that in the United States, most of the methane emissions have not only come from a few large oil and gas drilling sites, but many Small wells that emit less than 100 kilograms For the time being.
“Marginal wells only produce 6 to 7% [oil and gas] In the United States, but they represent almost 50% of American oil and gas production emissions, “said Gautam.” These facilities produce only less than 15 barrels of oil equivalent for the day, but there are more than half a million of these scars in the United States.
There are ways to stop methane emissions, but we don’t use them
The good news is that many of the tools to contain methane in the energy industry are already available. “About 70% of methane emissions in the fossil colon could be practiced with existing technologies, low cost at low cost”, according to the AIE methane ratio.
For the petroleum and gas industry, this cap means something as simple as using better fittings in pipelines to limit leaks and install methane capture systems. And since methane is a fuel, the sale of saved methane can compensate for the cost of upgrading equipment. Let him enter the atmosphere is a waste of money and a contributor to warming.
