Methane emissions from the energy sector remained near record levels in 2023despite the obligations of the oil and gas industry infrastructure leak plugThis is stated in a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), published this Wednesday.

The Agency was optimistic about the possibility that New satellites help improve surveillance and transparency of methane leaksa powerful greenhouse gas responsible for approximately a third of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution.

“Emissions from fossil fuel operations continue to remain unacceptably high“IEA chief energy economist Tim Gould said, although he added that 2024 could be the year “inflection point”.

The production and use of fossil fuels releases more 120 million tons of methane last yearMethane emissions have remained around this level since 2019, according to the IEA Global Methane Tracker.

Large plumes of methane due to leaking fossil fuel infrastructure increased by 50% in 2023 compared to 2022, according to the report. One of the superbursts recorded by satellite was a well explosion in Kazakhstan that lasted more than 200 days.

At last year’s UN climate summit in Dubai, near 200 countries agreed to quickly and significantly reduce methane emissionsThis is in addition to a previous commitment by more than 150 countries to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% below 2020 levels by the end of this decade.

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Dozens of oil companies have voluntarily committed to reduce emissions through the Oil and Methane Alliance UN Environment Programme.

However, countries and companies continue underestimation of methane emissions from oil and gas compared to the latest IEA estimate.

According to the agency, satellites could help close this gap. Earlier this month, a new methane detection satellite backed by Alphabet Inc.’s Google and the Environmental Defense Fund launched into orbit.

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The European Space Agency and another satellite tracker known as GHGSat already track methane emissions, but the new MethanSAT will provide more details and you will have a much wider field of view.

Reuters