UNEP calls Nord Stream methane leak ‘biggest-ever’; plume over Europe fading-

UNEP calls Nord Stream methane leak ‘biggest-ever’; plume over Europe fading-

Subject :Environment

Context:

• The methane released due to ruptures in the underwater Nord Stream natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany on September 26, 2022, is the single-biggest such release of greenhouse gas, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• However, the methane plume over Europe is fading quickly.
• Three confirmed and one potential gas leak have been detected in the Nord Stream pipeline.
• The plume is spreading, the greenhouse gas has been detected in Finland, Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom.
• The leaks were detected in both Nordstream 1 and Nordstream 2 pipelines. The former was shut down indefinitely after the leak. Germany suspended the latter following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• The leak rate from one of the rupture points was estimated to be 22,920 kilograms per hour. This is the 285,763 kg of coal burning every hour.
• On September 26, the radius of the methane plume was 700 metres. It has now reduced to roughly 290 metres.

Nord Stream Gas pipeline–

• Nord Stream consists of two pipelines, which have two lines each-
  • Nord Stream 1 was completed in 2011 and runs from Vyborg in Leningrad (Russia) to Lubmin near Greifswald, Germany.
  • Nord Stream 2 which runs from Ust-Luga in Leningrad to Lubmin was completed in September 2021 and has the capacity to handle 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year once it becomes operational.
• The twin pipelines together can transport a combined total of 110 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year to Europe for at least 50 years.
• The Nord Stream crosses the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of several countries including Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, and the territorial waters of Russia, Denmark, and Germany.
• In Germany, the pipeline connects to the OPAL (Baltic Sea Pipeline) and NEL (North European Pipeline) which further connects to the European grid.

Methane as a GHG–

• Methane is responsible for more than a quarter of the current global warming.
• The greenhouse gas is 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide during the 20 years after it is released into the atmosphere.
• Earlier this year, UNEP showed that oil and gas fields worldwide, from the United States to Turkmenistan, have been causing massive methane leaks.
• It added that the releases, most of which can be traced to equipment failures, can last for weeks.

Other Sources of Methane emission–

a. Biological Sources: wetlands, landfills that are not well vented, and submerged paddy fields.

b. Agriculture: 

• Livestock emissions – from manure and gastroenteric releases – account for roughly 32% of human-caused methane emissions. Cows also belch out methane.
• Paddy rice cultivation – accounts for another 8% of human-linked emissions.

c. Emissions from Fuel and Industries

d. Recent Emissions from Permian Basin – A new study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology has estimated over 9% of gas production in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, US. is being leaked as emissions, in contrast to the 1.4% predicted by the US Environmental Protection Agency.