Legambiente, through monitoring systems, has discovered that 13 out of 25 fossil gas plants between Sicily and Basilicata release large quantities of methane
Methane emissions , accidentally released by fossil gas and oil plants , are not perceptible to the naked eye, but can cause serious damage to the planet and the climate . In Italy these losses occur very often along the entire production chain .
Gas leaks can occur for a variety of reasons – from poor maintenance to sudden failure – but can be caused by risky practices such as the controlled release of “useless” gas called venting . These reasons not only cause the loss of a precious resource, but also release methane into the atmosphere, a gas 86 times more polluting than carbon dioxide for the first 20 years.
Observations by Legambiente , carried out last October as part of the information and awareness campaign “There is a smell of gas” which required the use of infrared cameras , identified as many as 13 plants out of 25 monitored between Sicily and Basilicata which have experienced significant losses : 15 cases of direct release and 68 losses for a total of 80 release points.
In particular, out of 13 plants in which methane emissions occurred, 11 are infrastructures linked to the transport of fossil gas, of which 10 managed by SNAM, 1 by Italgas, and 1 managed by Greenstream BV (ENI and NOC).
The European regulation, on the other hand, proposes to intervene only on leaks of a certain size, leaving the rest of the methane gas to be wasted. This is the only way to help avoid 42% of the direct emissions that occur in Italy today.
AdvertisementLegambiente
- In Italy we waste a lot of natural gas and this is a huge problem for the planet (ohga.it)
