Europe’s new gas deals should target leaked, flared methane, not new drilling

The Clean Air Task Force asserts that Europe can address its energy security needs and reduce climate impact by targeting wasted methane in Algeria. It highlights that Algeria's wasted gas volume exceeds the amount Italy seeks in new deals and that capturing this gas is more climate-friendly and potentially more lucrative than new drilling.

• Algeria's annual waste of methane gas through flaring, venting, and leaks exceeds the volume of gas Italy intends to purchase under its new deal with Algeria. In the previous year, Algeria flared 10.5 billion cubic meters, vented 2.4 billion cubic meters, and lost 0.6 billion cubic meters through leaks.
• Algeria is among the top six gas flaring countries globally, with a flaring intensity four times the global average, surpassed only by Venezuela among the 25 largest oil producers. Over 73% of this flaring occurs within 20 kilometers of a gas pipeline, making these sites suitable for rapid capture projects.
• Capturing 9 billion cubic meters of gas annually from flares instead of new drilling would reduce emissions by over 32 million tons of CO2-equivalent, which is roughly equal to the 2018 emissions of Italy's entire agricultural sector.
• Investments in flare capture are presented as financially lucrative; a sample project with a €45 million investment could generate between €70 million and €460 million annually, depending on gas prices (€15-110 per MWh).

APA

Turitto, J. (2022). Europe’s new gas deals should target leaked, flared methane, not new drilling. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2022/05/europes-new-gas-deals-should-target-leaked-flared-methane-not-new-drilling/

Chicago

Turitto, James. Europe’s new gas deals should target leaked, flared methane, not new drilling. Clean Air Task Force, 2022. https://www.catf.us/2022/05/europes-new-gas-deals-should-target-leaked-flared-methane-not-new-drilling/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Turitto |first1=James |title=Europe’s new gas deals should target leaked, flared methane, not new drilling |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=17 May 2022 |url=https://www.catf.us/2022/05/europes-new-gas-deals-should-target-leaked-flared-methane-not-new-drilling/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{turitto2022europes, author = {Turitto, James}, title = {{Europe’s new gas deals should target leaked, flared methane, not new drilling}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.catf.us/2022/05/europes-new-gas-deals-should-target-leaked-flared-methane-not-new-drilling/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }