Exclusive Satellite Images Show Methane Cloud Near Pakistan Landfill

During COP27 we’re posting a high-resolution image of a methane cloud every day to highlight how common releases of the potent greenhouse gas are.

GHGSat attributed the latest observation, outside of Lahore, to the waste sector and estimated the plume’s emissions rate at 1,403 kilograms per hour. (Representative Image) (AP)

Scientists say reducing emissions of methane, which has 84 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during its first two decades in the atmosphere, is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to cool the planet. Throughout COP27, Bloomberg Green will exclusively publish new satellite images of methane releases around the world, in collaboration with emissions monitoring firm GHGSat Inc.

Near Lahore, Pakistan, Nov. 10, 1:35 pm local time

The growth of South Asian megacities has spawned regional methane hotspots linked to landfills. GHGSat attributed the latest observation, outside of Lahore, to the waste sector and estimated the plume's emissions rate at 1,403 kilograms per hour. 

The source of emissions in South Asia observed by satellite are different from major emitters such as the US or Russia, where the lion's share of releases are linked to oil, gas and coal operations. Last year, more than half of all methane emissions measured globally from landfills by GHGSat were in Asia.

Piles of garbage generate the potent greenhouse gas when organic material such as food scraps break down in the absence of oxygen. Landfills and wastewater are responsible for about 20% of the methane emissions generated from human activity, and failing to curb releases from the sector could derail global climate goals.

The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency didn't immediately respond to an email sent outside normal business hours over the weekend. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Climate Change acknowledged a WhatsApp message seeking comment but did not immediately provide one. Diverting food scraps and other organics before they enter a landfill is crucial to limiting future emissions. The impact of legacy dumps can be mitigated through aerating piles of trash and gas capture systems.

Eastern Turkmenistan, Nov. 10, 2:21 pm local time

A large methane cloud has been observed in the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, a global hotspot for the potent greenhouse gas. GHGSat attributed the plume to the nation's oil and gas sector and estimated the emissions rate at about 8,501 kilograms per hour. 

Turkmenistan has the world's fourth largest natural gas reserves and offers one of the biggest global opportunities to cut back on leaks of methane. Earlier this year, researchers identified 29 pieces of oil and gas equipment spewing enough methane each year to rival the annual emissions from all the cars in Alabama. The report found that the releases were mostly the result of poorly maintained or leaky equipment — and largely avoidable.

The country's fossil fuel production is dominated by two state-owned companies, Turkmennebit and Turkmengaz. Neither company, nor its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, immediately responded to emails requesting comment outside of normal business hours over the weekend. 

Methane emissions are routinely observed in Turkmenistan's western Caspian basin leaking from old Soviet infrastructure, and in the nation's east, which is home to the large Galkynysh gas field, and where China National Petroleum Corp. has built new infrastructure to ship the fossil gas to the world's most populous country.

Methane is the primary component of natural gas and responsible for about 30% of the Earth's warming. Turkmenistan has so far declined to join the Global Methane Pledgee, a group of more than 120 countries that are aiming to cut releases of the gas 30% by the end of this decade from 2020 levels.

Quebec, Canada, Nov. 9, 1:36 pm local time

A cloud of methane was observed near a suburb of Montreal that GHGSat attributed to the waste sector. The satellite company estimated an emissions rate for the plume of 1,185 kilograms per hour. 

Environment and Climate Change Canada spokesperson Cecelia Parsons acknowledged a Bloomberg email asking if the agency was doing anything about the release and said she was looking into it. A spokesperson for Quebec's ministry of environment also acknowledged a request for comment.

The release offers yet another disconnect between Canada's climate ambitions and its emissions. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pitched the country as a global environmental leader but the nation's methane and carbon dioxide releases have climbed more than any other G-7 country, relative to a 1990 baseline, according to European Commission data through early 2021.

Last month Bloomberg News reported on a methane plume near oil and gas production and pipelines that Canadian regulators said they were unaware of. Environment Minister  Steven Guilbeault has said the country is on track to cut methane emissions more than 40% by 2025, relative to a 2012 baseline. 

Diverting food scraps and other organics before they enter a landfill is crucial to limiting future emissions. The impact of legacy dumps can be mitigated through aerating piles of trash and gas capture systems.

Pszczyna County, Poland, Nov. 8, 1:25 pm local time

Two distinct methane plumes were observed in southern Poland near the border with the Czech Republic by a GHGSat satellite on Nov. 8. The emissions monitoring firm attributed the concentrations of methane to the coal sector and estimated the combined rate for the two plumes at 3,410 kilograms per hour. 

Poland's Ministry of Climate and Environment didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment sent outside normal business hours. 

Methane can leak from coal mines when sedimentary rocks are crushed or coal seams are exposed. Miners often attempt to drain methane from coal seams before mining the fossil fuel to reduce the risk of explosions and fires. The sector is responsible for about 30% of the total emissions of the potent greenhouse gas coming from the energy sector. Halting intentional venting of methane and accidental leaks from coal mines and oil and gas infrastructure is viewed by scientists as some of the lowest hanging fruit in the fight against climate change.

Both plumes were near Poland's KWK Pniówek coal mine, according to Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based non-profit that catalogs global fossil fuel infrastructure. Vents for large underground mines can be several kilometers from where coal is coming is coming out of the ground. 

The KWK Pniówek mine was highlighted in a 2015 report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of its Coalbed Methane Outreach Program that works with mines in the U.S. and internationally to encourage the economic use of coal mine methane that is otherwise vented to the atmosphere. 

Poland remains heavily reliant on coal for home heating and the country is home to 40 of the 100 cities with the worst air quality in the European Union. The nation has one of the continent's highest prevalence of premature deaths linked to contaminated air. 

Fars Province, Iran, Nov. 6, 9:25 am local time

A GHGSat satellite observed methane emissions near fossil fuel facilities Nov. 6 in a remote corner of Fars Province, in southern Iran. The emissions monitoring company attributed the plume to the oil and gas sector and estimated methane was spewing at a rate of 795 kilograms an hour at the time of the observation. 

Officials with the National Iranian Oil Co., the country's government-owned oil and natural gas producer, didn't immediately respond to an email sent outside normal business hours. 

The emissions occurred near the Arsanjan-Kheirgoo Gas Compressor Station. The site's three compressors help ship as much as 110 million cubic meters of gas a day from the South Pars field 1,050 kilometers (650 miles) north to Tehran and were designed to increase transmission capacity during the winter heating season, according to a promotional video from the site's operating subsidiary Sekafco.

National Iranian Oil spews more methane than any other global energy producer, according to a report by Global Energy Monitor. The non-profit group found that that just 30 fossil fuel companies account for nearly half of the sector's emissions of the potent greenhouse gas.

Methane is the primary component of natural gas and responsible for about 30% of the Earth's warming. Leaks can occur during extraction and transport of the fossil fuel.

The potent greenhouse gas, which has 84 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during its first two decades in the atmosphere, is also routinely generated as a byproduct of oil or coal production and if operators don't have infrastructure to get the gas to market they may release it into the atmosphere. The International Energy Agency has called for oil and gas operators to halt all non-emergency methane venting. 

Near Kirtland, New Mexico, USA, Nov. 6, 1:48 pm local time

A GHGSat satellite observed methane emissions near a coal mine Nov. 6 in New Mexico that the emissions monitoring firm said was coming from a mine vent. The company estimated the release was spewing at a rate of 440.4 kilograms per hour. 

Operational coal mines often vent methane to reduce the risk of explosion. Closed or abandoned coal mines can leak methane for years if they aren't properly sealed. 

GHGSat said they first detected emissions from the site through a demonstrator satellite in 2016. An official with the New Mexico Environment Department said Westmoreland Mining LLC is the operator of the facility near the plume. An official at Westmoreland didn't immediately respond to a request for comment after normal business hours.Matthew Maez, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Environment Department said that fugitive emissions from coal mines are not subject to the department's air quality rules.

Near Lucknow, India, Nov. 5, 1:28 pm local time

The satellite image was taken on Nov. 5 and shows a plume of methane that GHGSat attributed to a landfill in India. The estimated emissions rate was 1,328 kilograms per hour of methane. Landfills tend to be persistent emitters, according to the Montreal-based company. 

The detection highlights how waste is triggering some of the world's strongest and most persistent methane emissions.

In India, more than 60% of waste is composed of organics that often originate from markets where vegetables, meat and poultry and other food are sold, according to the non-profit group Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, known as GAIA. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Clean India campaign aims to spend 41.52 billion rupees ($519 million) to clean up legacy waste at landfills in more than 600 cities by 2026.

Near Daqing, China, Nov. 4 at 1:15pm local time

On Nov. 4 a satellite identified six methane releases in northeast China near the Daqing oilfield, according to GHGSat. Estimated emissions rates ranged between 446 and 884 kilograms per hour and the cumulative rate was 4,477 kilograms an hour. If the releases lasted for an hour at that rate they would have the same short-term climate impact as the annual emissions from about 81 US car

The detections highlight the rapidly expanding ability of satellites to identify and track methane almost anywhere in the world that is driving a new era of climate transparency in which greenhouse gases will be quantified and attributed in near real-time to individual assets and companies.  

More companies and institutions are launching multi-spectral satellites that can detect methane's unique signature. GHGSat has six satellites in orbit now dedicated to monitoring industrial methane and aims to launch another five by the end of next year. US non-profit Environmental Defense Fund plans to launch its MethaneSAT in 2023 and a consortium including Carbon Mapper, the state of California, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Planet Labs expects to launch two satellites next year. 

In 2021, concentrations of methane in the atmosphere had the biggest year-on-year jump since measurements began four  decades ago, according to the World Meteorological Organization.