(Bloomberg) -- A powerful plume of the greenhouse gas methane was spotted earlier this month by satelliteĀ near a natural gas pipeline operated by Gazprom PJSC in central Russia.Ā
The concentration of gas was detected Nov. 1 and had an estimated emissions rate of 108 tons an hour, according to Kayrros SAS, which analyzed European Space Agency data.Ā Ā The geoanalytics firm saidĀ the plume wasĀ detected near Russia's Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipe, which is part of a larger network thatĀ transports the gas to Europe through Ukraine.
Gazprom acknowledged emailed requests for comment, sent on Nov. 4, but didn't answer questions about the emissions event.
The Urengoy-Pomary-UzhgorodĀ is part of the Brotherhood pipeline network, which is one of the oldest gas conduits linking Russia andĀ Europe.Ā Moscow has argued that theĀ controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, whichĀ still requires approval and runsĀ under the Baltic Sea to Germany, offers cleaner gas because it'sĀ shorter and the infrastructure is newer, thus reducing associated emissions.
Read more:Ā Russia's Dirty Gas Is Keeping Europe From Freezing Over
The German energy regulator earlier this week suspended the approval process for the Nord Stream 2 operator, sayingĀ Gazprom has to comply with the EU rules and set upĀ a German subsidiary to run the pipeline. The move sent European gas prices surging as much as 12%..Ā
Kayrros identified 44 releases from 2019 through Oct. 25 this year within a 60-kilometer (37-mile) corridor along the Brotherhood pipelineĀ and 33 emissions events near the Northern Lights and Yamal-Europe conduits.
If the Nov. 1 event lasted an hour it would have roughly the same short-term climate impact as the annual emissions from more than 5,000 cars in the U.K.
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