Azerbaijan has not undertaken obligations to reduce methane emissions

At the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, 105 countries, which account for 70% of global GDP and account for nearly half of global methane emissions, committed to reduce their methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030 of the year. Meeting the Global Methane Commitment will reduce warming by at least 0.2 degrees Celsius by 2050, which will be an important foundation for efforts to mitigate the effects of global climate change.

However, the list of countries supporting this US-EU initiative did not include China, Russia and India, which, according to international estimates, are leading in methane emissions. This list does not include Azerbaijan (but Georgia and Armenia) and Turkmenistan (its methane emissions are second only to Russia in the CIS).

Methane accounts for 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, especially in three sectors - energy, agriculture and waste management. This gas is dangerous because it is lighter than CO2, accumulates in the atmosphere and heats it 80 times faster. At the same time, it is not as viable as carbon dioxide - it dissipates in 10-12 years.

In the energy sector, which accounts for more than a third of global methane emissions, emissions occur during the extraction, processing and distribution of oil and gas, as well as coal mining. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2020 the global oil and gas industry emitted at least 70 million tons of methane or more into the atmosphere. According to the IEA's calculations, one ton of methane is equivalent to 30 tons of carbon dioxide.

Situation in Azerbaijan

Total CO2 emissions in 2020 in Azerbaijan amounted to the equivalent of 34 million tons (more than 60% of total greenhouse gas emissions), methane is in second place (about 31-32% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the country, with almost 85% in oil and gas sector).

A SOCAR expert told ASTNA that the state-owned company is consulting within the framework of a coalition of industrial organizations and NGOs - Methane Guiding Principles (MGP) to reduce methane emissions.

This coalition recommended to Azerbaijan: - to apply new and modern environmentally friendly technologies for oil and gas processing (to reach Euro-5)

- modernize gas pipelines and gas distribution systems

- capture more and more efficiently air emissions from oil and gas production

- to prevent gas leaks during oil and gas processing and distribution networks.

As for the agricultural sector of Azerbaijan, methane emissions here come from livestock breeding, from the burning of agricultural waste, rice production, etc.

Global MGP recommendations to reduce methane emissions in agriculture include switching to efficient forms of livestock feeding (could reduce global methane emissions by 20% by 2030), introducing periodic aeration of rice fields (known as alternative wetting and drying of cultivation).

The Coalition believes that emissions from coal mining and the oil and gas sector can be reduced by more than 65% by preventing gas leaks during transportation and distribution, extraction and use of gas at the production stage, as well as by degassing during coal mining.

SOCAR does not rule out that with an increase in gas production and exports (already more than 20% in the country's total exports, it can reach 30% in the next few years), Azerbaijan will face an increase in methane emissions, as is the case in other gas-producing countries in the CIS, for example, in the Russian Federation and in Turkmenistan. But Azerbaijan has a desire to introduce new technologies to neutralize these threats.

The SOCAR representative did not comment on the fact that Azerbaijan did not undertake obligations to reduce methane emissions.

However, with a significant degree of probability, it can be assumed that the acceptance of such obligations will hinder Azerbaijan in the implementation of its

Methane emissions in China and Russia

China, the largest country in the world with anthropogenic methane emissions (due to the development of coal, livestock and rice production), did not join the commitment at the COP26 summit. At a November 3 press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China will step up its efforts to control greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide, including methane, as outlined in the country's 14th Economic and Social Development Plan to 2025-30. years without specifying details. But he still intends to focus on reducing CO2 emissions.

China's anthropogenic methane emissions increased by 40% in the 2000s and reached 16% of global anthropogenic emissions, according to a study by scientists from Peking University in 2021. Teng Fei, deputy director of the Institute of Environmental Economics and Energy, Tsinghua University in China, believes that weak baseline data and the difficulty of reducing 30% methane emissions by 2030 due to the specifics of the development of the Chinese economy and its households were the main reasons why China did not join this promise.

China and India are home to half of the world's coal-fired power plants. In total, there are more than 2,600 such coal-fired stations in the world.

In Glasgow, only 77 countries have pledged to phase out such power plants (they produce more than 35% of the world's electricity).

Obviously, poorer countries will turn to developed countries for financial assistance as payment for ending their dependence on coal (the idea of ​​the developed world countries already included the provision of $ 100 billion by 2020 to finance climate targets, but has not been fully implemented).

Banks and other financial institutions, including ADB, Citi and HSBC are also expected to step up, announcing financial mechanisms to help countries move away from coal.

The US and EU also proudly announced in Glasgow a significant increase in financial and technical support to countries that have made methane commitments. Global charities previously donated $ 328 million to fund methane reduction strategies projects around the world. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank and the Green Climate Fund have pledged to act in this direction, as has the International Energy Agency (IEA).

India has not signed the COP26 commitment to stop deforestation and reduce methane emissions due to concerns about the impact on trade, the country's vast agricultural sector and livestock development.

The Russian Federation has acceded only to the Declaration on the Conservation of Forests. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this in his video message to the meeting participants. He said that Russia (one-fifth of the world's forests are located on its territory) is striving to move to a carbon-neutral economy by 2060 and is also relying on the potential of forests that absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

As for methane emissions, the most famous Russian concern in the West, Gazprom, does not hide the existence of such a problem, but the EU countries interested in “blue fuel” actually turn a blind eye to it when it comes to energy security.

According to Russian Gazprom estimates, in 2020 greenhouse gas emissions from the facilities of this concern amounted to 100.97 million tons of CO2-equivalent (a decrease by 11% by 2019), and the amount of methane in these emissions was equivalent to the greenhouse effect of 25.52 million tons of carbon dioxide.

However, the Russian Federation for Europe, which mainly depends on Russian gas (exports about 200 billion cubic meters per year), have weighty counter-arguments.

One of them is the soonest approval of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, because “the newer the gas pipeline technology, the less methane emissions and unit costs for gas pumping”. Putin recently emphasized this, pointing to Ukraine's aging gas transportation system for the transit of Russian gas to Europe.

According to Bloomberg experts, the reduction of methane emissions is also a political argument for lifting sanctions on Gazprom's green projects. First of all, we are talking about upgrading the gas pumping infrastructure, a significant part of which Gazprom imported.

Before the climate summit in Glasgow, the Russian president's special envoy for climate Ruslan Edelgeriev did not rule out that he would raise the issue of lifting sanctions on environmental projects.

It is curious that European satellites regularly record methane emissions at Gazprom's facilities. For example, from 2019 to October 25, 2021, the French geoanalytic company Kayrros recorded 44 gas releases on a 60-kilometer section of the Drujba pipeline, one of the oldest pipelines, as well as 33 leaks near the Northern Lights and Yamal pipelines. Europe".

European Commissioners in Glasgow announced the upcoming creation of an International Observatory for Monitoring Methane Emissions.

EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said this week: “Current surveillance systems do not allow us to accurately and quickly determine where and how much methane is being emitted around the world. When more accurate data are available, countries can take swift and targeted action. In the EU, we will already propose innovative legislation to reduce methane emissions. It concerns mandatory leak detection and prompt repair, as well as restriction of ventilation and methane flaring”.

According to IEA experts, the Russian oil and gas industry accounts for multimillion methane emissions (about 20 million tons / year or more) - this is the highest rate in the world. The United States took second place by a small margin, and the IEA named Turkmenistan (one of the five gas-producing countries in the world) in third place, which does not share such information.

The IEA estimates that about three quarters of global methane emissions from fossil fuels can be prevented using existing technologies. Proponents argue that many of these measures, including upgrades to compressor stations and pipeline valves, will pay off in the long term because the gas that is not released into the atmosphere can be traded.

“Pipeline emissions from Russia can be detected,” says Stephen Geiger, founder of the analytical company Innova Partners (he has been working with Russian energy systems for 30 years). - But who pays for it? Will the Russian government want to pursue a tough climate policy on its own, or will it decide to share the burden with end consumers, that is, gas buyers in Europe? Although Europe is now pursuing an aggressive climate policy, it also needs to curb the rise in gas prices in order to avoid social problems."

Of course, Gazprom runs the risk of lagging behind its competitors in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in particular, from Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, but it has announced plans to control these emissions on its own.

So the concern will cooperate with the Russian space agency in the process of creating 6 satellites (the first can be launched into orbit in 2024).

Russia wants the world to adopt a unified system for estimating the volume of greenhouse gas emissions from space, and it has already proposed the United States to create a joint monitoring platform.

However, the problem is not only about preventing leaks and reducing the amount of methane discharged into the atmosphere.

Do not forget that Gazprom operates the world's largest pipeline network (if you lay all these pipes one after the other, then the resulting length will be enough to go around the Earth more than 4 times).

When gas is supplied through all these pipes, methane can be released into the atmosphere and during planned maintenance of the infrastructure, accidental leaks due to wear of metal and equipment are not excluded (applies to gas pipelines built from the late 1960s to the early 1980s).

Bloomberg experts believe that additional pressure on the Russian Federation on greenhouse gas emissions will not bring any results until Europe actually and significantly reduces the amount of gas it consumes.

In 2020, Gazprom supplied almost a third of all the gas that Europe needs, and in the short term, while the continent is reducing its own production, the role of this Russian company will only grow.

“The EU has driven itself into a corner because it is not investing enough money in clean energy to reduce its dependence on natural gas,” said Jonathan Stern, Emeritus Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Research. - The EU needs to spend tens of billions of euros annually in clean energy for several decades, but I do not see this money being spent. I doubt that reducing the demand for natural gas will be a priority. For this reason, I believe that the volume of Russian gas exports will remain about the same as now, until the end of this decade."

In reality, this means that the Russian Federation may continue not to assume obligations for methane emissions. Perhaps the same "behavior" will be acceptable for Azerbaijan, which the EU and the US position as an important alternative supplier of "blue fuel" to Europe, although the volume of its supplies is 20 times less than those of Gazprom.

No one doubts the importance of the EU-US initiative to reduce methane emissions, but not all the implications for the world's energy security have been taken into account.

Evgrashina Lada