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Gas flaring contributes to climate change, which has serious implications for us and the rest of the world. The burning of fossil fuel, mainly coal, oil and gas - greenhouse gases - has led to warming up the world and is projected to get much, much worse during the course of the 21st century, according to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This scientific body was set up in 1988 by the UN and the World Meteorological Organization to consider climate change. |
The burning of gas from landfills by flaring leads to the emission of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Venting of the gas without burning, a practice for which flaring seems often to be treated as a synonym, releases methane, the second main greenhouse gas. Together, and crudely, these gases make up about 80% of global warming to date. |
In addition to carbon dioxide emissions, the venting of gas gives rise to methane and volatile organic compound emissions. These occur from leaks and from the deliberate release of gas as gas, rather than burning. Flaring also contributes significantly to emissions of carbon monoxide and oxiders of nitrogen. Along with volatile organic compounds, |
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from flaring and
methane emissions from venting have high global
warming potential and contribute to climate change;
methane is many times more potent a green house gas
than CO2. Flaring may in some places have harmful
effects on human health and ecosystems near flaring
sites. Global CO2 emissions from flaring are nearly
10 percent of the emissions that the United States
along with countries like Eastern Europe, and
including Russia, are committed to reducing within
the commitment period 2008-2012. Flaring produces the primary green house gases,
CO2 and methane. In addition, flaring of gas rich
in liquids can produce smoke, with aerosol effects
that also contribute to global warming. One of the key problems in assessing the impact
of flaring on green house gas accumulation is the
lack of information not only about the quantities
involved but also about the types of gases emitted.
Key issues include: * The ratio of gas vented to gas flared is
crucial because the impact of methane on global
warming is about 21 times greater than that of CO2,
so a small change in the ratio of flaring to
venting makes a disproportionate change in the
impact on the global environment. For example, if
90 percent of the associated gas volume is flared
and 10 percent is vented, the amount vented would
have approximately twice the global warming effect
as the amount flared. * Gas flares vary greatly in the efficiency with
which they burn methane and thus convert it into
CO2. The least efficient flares still frequently
used may convert only 90 percent of the methane to
CO2, while the most efficient flares convert 98
percent. The global warming impact of the least
efficient flares is twice that of the most
efficient. * The composition of the gas being flared can
vary greatly. Some gas is rich in hydrocarbons
heavier than methane (propane, butane, pentanes
plus) and thus produces more carbon, as well as
smoke and aerosols. In other cases, gas may contain
significant proportions of inert gases (nitrogen,
helium) and sulfur compounds (H2S), as well as CO2.
Incineration of such "impure" natural gas will have
a different impact on the climate change than that
of pure hydrocarbons. Because of these uncertainties, the impact of
flaring on global warming could be larger than
normally assumed. On climate change grounds alone,
the practice must stop. It should be noted,
however, that simply stopping gas flaring will not
mean that greenhouse gas emissions are prevented in
the round, but obviously needless burning of
greenhouse gases should be prevented in its own
right.
Also See: "Do Garbage Incinerators Harm Humans" By Rachels Environmental Health Weekly
Some Stories and Data Provided By: EJNET.ORG
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