For the first time, scientists used satellite data to detect a major offshore leak of methane gas. A new study showed a leak in the Gulf of Mexico that spewed 40,000 tones of oil and gas over a 17-day period in December.
The platform is near Campeche in southern Mexico, which is also one of the biggest oil-producing fields in the country.
Satellite-Based Methods
Using satellites has opened the doors for spotting methane leaks over land. Being responsible for 30 percent of the rise in temperature globally, methane gas is indeed crucial to detect. It is also 28 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas on a century-long timescale. And over a 20-year time frame, methane will be 80 times more potent.
The new wave of satellite monitoring capability will have significant implications for governments and the industry. This only shows that the Earth is becoming a place in which methane gas will have nowhere to hide anymore.
Back then, methane emissions were challenging to detect-they could spew from landfills, storage, and many areas, but they won't be visible to the eye. It is also important to note that the US has over a million oil and gas wells and millions of miles of natural gas pipelines.
Therefore, finding leaks make expensive aerial overflights or ground monitoring necessary. By adding satellites to the mix, monitoring for leaks has become less expensive.
With this method, it depends on the understanding of scientists and researchers about methane gas which would be a significant tool in saving the environment. This also led to the Global Methane Pledge at COP26 in Glasgow by over 100 countries, including the US, Japan, and Canada. All of them agreed to cut methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
Last year, there was also a huge rise in the concentration of methane in the atmosphere.
Methane is produced by the transport and production of fossil fuels as well as the decay of organic matter in wetlands. It is also a by-product of livestock digestion in agriculture.
Also Read: Methane Doesn't Last Long In The Atmosphere But Causes Sea-Level Rise For Centuries
Leaks All Over
Also just recently, the European Space Agency satellite detected a cloud of methane near multiple gas pipelines and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has been contacted to investigate. The plume has an emissions rate of 44 tons of methane an hour, and it was the most severe detected in the US.
If the release lasted an hour at the rate estimated, it would have the same short-term impact as the yearly emissions of 800 US vehicles. Also on that same day, a second plume was identified that was 25 miles southwest of the original release. However, there was no clear estimate of the emissions rate.
Related Article: Methane Gas Produced Warm Climate That Kept Liquid Water Flowing On Ancient Mars
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Written by April Fowell
