The two gas pipelines drilled off the coast of Denmark are emitting thousands of cubic meters of methane, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, into the atmosphere.
Are these acts of sabotage or accidental cascading leaks on Nord Stream 1 and 2, the two main gas pipelines between Russia and northern Europe, which cause enormous boiling in the Baltic Sea? Regardless, the result is the same: huge amounts of methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases, are released into the atmosphere.
“The volumes of gas that can be contained in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines represent, in total, between 300 and 500 million m3 of natural gas when they are at full pressure. Assuming that there are around 300 million m3, as was the case recently, this represents around 200,000 tonnes of methane., explains Antoine Rostand, founder and CEO of Kayrros, a company specializing in satellite data analysis for oil and the energy transition. These estimates are of the same order of magnitude as those given on Twitter by Greg de Temmerman, director of the think tank Zenon Research, specialized in energy and associate researcher at Mines ParisTech.
To give an order of magnitude, 200,000 tons of methane have the same effect on global warming as the circulation of a million petrol cars for a year.
“These volumes are very substantial. But it is the order of magnitude of a day of methane leakage from the entire world oil industry. This volume is therefore not significant for the aggravation of climate change”, adds the founder of Kayrros. And he specifies that he “However, it is not possible to precisely measure current point leaks in the Baltic Sea off Denmark”. While the internal volume of the pipes of the two gas pipelines is easy to calculate, the exact quantity actually depends on the gas pressure at the time of the leaks.
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