Climate research assumes that the world climate is changing. The question to what extent such change is due to human activity is still at issue. However, scientists agree that increasing concentrations of climate forcing trace gases in the atmosphere make a contribution to climate change which is not negligible.
Besides CO2, CH4 is one of the most important climate forcing gases. Anthropogenic emissions have increased significantly due to a growing world population. The share attributable to fossil fuels is on the order of approx. 17 % of total annual CH4 emissions.
The shares of gas industry emissions vary depending on country. Total CH4 emissions caused by the gas industry worldwide were roughly 20,000 kt in 1995. This amount neither includes the CH4 emissions connected with the production of crude oil nor those connected with associated gas which occurs during oil production and is not fed into a gas grid. Related to the world's natural gas production of approx. 79,000 PJ (net calorific value) and assuming, as a worst case scenario, that natural gas is purely CH4, the leakage rate is 1.3 %. The global estimate includes measurements and up-to-date information which confirm that the CH4 emissions in Russia are considerably lower than assumed so far. The CH4 emissions of the Russian gas industry were estimated to approx. 4,200 kt in 1995, corresponding to a leakage rate on the order of 1 % referred to net natural gas production in Russia.
The gas industry endeavours to further improve the already good emission situation by application of the best available technologies throughout the gas chain, from production down to the end user.
Overview/Target The main component of natural gas is methane (CH4) and both the natural gas industry and environmentalists in general have an interest in quantifying losses of natural gas. When quantified, the importance of CH4 emissions related to natural gas must be compared with other anthropogenic CH4 sources and, if necessary, reduction measures can be defined.
The target of this presentation is to put CH4 emissions in the gas industry into perspective with respect to their climate effect and present possibilities for CH4 leakage reduction in the gas industry.
A prognosis made by the Fraunhofer Institute for the German gas industry is included as an example of the existing potential for CH4 leakage reduction.
Status Quo of With industrialisation, the concentrations of climate forcing gases have significantly increased due to Scientific Climate Discussion human activities. Around 1750, before industrialisation started, the concentration of carbon dioxide Global Warming (CO2), for example, which is the most important greenhouse gas, had been at a level of 280 + 10 Potential of Methane ppm for several thousand years. The CO2 concentratio