An investigation by environmental organisations has found that climate-heating methane gas is leaking or being vented from more than 100 places across 35 fossil fuel sites in Queensland and New South Wales.
Recall that the Australian Conservation Foundation commissioned the US-based Clean Air Task Force, a global nonprofit, to use new technology to monitor if methane was leaking from coalmines and gas facilities owned by energy giants Santos and Origin and pipeline company Jemena.
Methane is said to be a powerful greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the global heating impact of CO2 over a 20-year period when released into the atmosphere. It is estimated to have caused nearly a third of the 1.2C increase in average global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution.
According to reports, the two groups released infrared videos on Tuesday that they said showed gas escaping from a range of infrastructure and mines. The organisations said that the videos were recorded over a four-week period in which they visited 80 sites to take a snapshot of Australia’s fossil fuel infrastructure.
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While the claims were immediately rejected by two of the companies named, Origin and Santos said they had checked their gas wells after the claims were raised this week and found no leaks. Santos said a routine leak detection inspection last month by the NSW Environment Protection Authority also found no leaks.
Findings by the researchers did not suggest that the companies were acting illegally, or that they were hiding emissions deliberately. They said they were concerned there was a systemic problem that was not properly regulated.
They said that the videos lent further weight to previous studies that found the amount of methane released into the atmosphere was higher than reported. Data released by the International Energy Agency has suggested methane from Australian coalmines and gas production could be more than 60% higher than federal government estimates.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
