Emissions of a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in Turkmenistan are concerned in a number of countries around the world.
Just two Turkmenneft fields in the west of the country emitted more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2022 than the entire UK in all of 2022, according to The Guardian, a British publication based on new satellite imagery, according to the turkmen.news portal.
In 2022, 2.6 million tons of methane was released from a western fossil fuel deposit in Turkmenistan on the coast of the Caspian Sea. From the eastern - 1.8 million tons. The total emissions from these two fields amounted to 366 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is more than the annual emissions of the UK, which ranks 17th in the world, according to the material of the British publication.
Experts call these figures "staggering" and point out that the increase in emissions from Turkmenistan has been observed since 2007, that this acceleration may well be considered the biggest threat to keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees and that this could lead to "catastrophic climate tipping points". moments."
The Guardian notes that in recent years, instead of flaring associated gas, emissions of invisible methane into the atmosphere are increasingly occurring. However, modern technologies make it possible to detect such environmental pollution. The publication emphasizes that emissions of unburned gas cause more harm to the atmosphere than flaring. Methane consumes 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide.
The solution to the problem may be the elimination of leaks in the fields, experts say. These works are inexpensive and will pay off over time, as the collected gas can be sold. The publication notes that the infrastructure of the Turkmen oil and gas industry is "very bad."
Attempts to contact the state-run Turkmenneft and Turkmengaz concerns, as well as the Turkmen Foreign Ministry and the Turkmen Embassy in the UK for comment, were unsuccessful.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
May 10, 2023