Methane emissions into the atmosphere in Turkmenistan pose serious problems for the rest of the world. A small country with a small population in terms of greenhouse gas emissions is second only to the United States and Russia, according to a Bloomberg article .
The Canadian company GHGSat is looking for greenhouse gas leaks using satellites.
Of the 50 largest leaks in the world since 2019, 31 occurred in Turkmenistan.
“One of the leaks at the Korpeje gas field lasted more than five years. Given that the greenhouse properties of methane are 84 times stronger than carbon dioxide, this leak alone can be compared in terms of its impact on the atmosphere with the emissions of all cars in Arizona in a year. We were shocked! ", - said the head of GHGSat Stephanie Jermaine ( by Stephane Germain is ).
At the same time, researchers do not understand how the authorities of Turkmenistan can be influenced to reduce emissions.
It does not appear that the task of reducing leaks is a priority for the authorities, the article says.
Two anonymous sources said that the infrastructure has hardly been updated since Soviet times due to a lack of funds and specialists. Environmental standards are ignored, there is no equipment to monitor emissions, and there is no incentive for management to monitor the situation. “Everyone just turns a blind eye to problems. Nobody cares about emissions of invisible gas, ”said one of the newspaper's interlocutors.
Questions from Bloomberg's editors, sent to the responsible ministries and Turkmengaz, remained unanswered. For a long time, GHGSat's requests were also ignored, which appealed to the Turkmen gas company and ministries, then to the Canadian Foreign Ministry and to the governments of the EU countries. Scientists received a response from the Turkmen side only after they contacted American diplomats, who apparently conveyed information to the Turkmen government. After a while, the emissions stopped.
Greenhouse gas leaks in Turkmenistan occur regularly.
In February 2021, the Canadian company GHGSat Inc. from the satellite discovered eight sources of methane emissions in Turkmenistan, from which 10 tons of gas per hour got into the atmosphere.
In November 2020, the same company found a gas leak at the Korpeje field.
Head of GHGSat Inc. said that the company does not have a direct connection with Turkmenistan, through which they could promptly inform the Turkmen side about leaks. Attempts to contact through the government of Canada also remained unsuccessful.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that has a significant impact on global warming.
At the same time, Turkmenistan adopted the National Climate Change Strategy, in which the country's government commits to take measures to reduce the negative impact on the climate.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan