On the one hand, Europe is crying for energy, on the other hand, Russia is wasting large amounts of natural gas. A plant near the border with Finland called Portovaya is burning USD 10 million worth of gas a day. Experts say that the gas that is being incinerated was earlier exported to Germany. Germany's ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, said that Russia is burning gas because it cannot sell elsewhere.
Meanwhile, scientists are expressing concern about burning a lot of natural gas. They say that it is producing a lot of carbon dioxide and smoke. It can increase the melting of polar ice.
According to data from Norway-based energy research institute Rystad Energy, 43 lakh 40 thousand cubic meters of gas are being burned daily. Gas flares at a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Portovia, northwest of St. Petersburg. Earlier this summer, people near the border with Finland saw large flames. Portovia is located near a compressor station where Nord Stream-1, the pipeline that supplies gas from Russia to Germany, begins. Gas supply to Germany through this pipeline has been stopped since mid-July last. For this, technical problems have been mentioned on the part of Russia.
From the side of Germany, it is said that it is a political move around the Ukraine war. However, since last June, the temperature in the plant has been increasing. Gas emissions were initially thought to be the cause of this heat gain, but later the burning of natural gas came to light.
Although gas flaring is common in processing plants. Gas is usually flared for technical or safety reasons. But the level of gas burning at the Russian plant has baffled experts. "I've never seen such a big flame from an LNG plant," said Jessica McCarthy, a satellite data expert at the University of Miami in the United States. We have seen this flame grow since last June. It never subsided. It's got higher and higher.'
Miguel Berger said Europe's efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas had a severe impact on the country's economy. There is no place where they can sell gas. So they are burning gas.
Mark Davis, chief executive of Capterio, a company that deals with gas fires, said the flames that were seen were no accident. This is a deliberate decision to keep the plant operational. Managers don't want to shut down a plant because of technical problems or the cost of restarting it. That happened in this case too.
Others believe there are huge technical challenges to preserving the gas that would have been transported through the Nord Stream-1 pipeline. Russian energy company Gazprom is considering using this gas in a new LNG plant. But there may be problems to get gas. So it seems reasonable to burn it.
This gas flaring could also be the result of Europe's trade embargo with Russia in response to the Ukraine invasion. Professor Isa Vakilainen of Finland's LEET University said the long-term fire means there is a shortage of some equipment. Due to the trade embargo with Russia, they are not getting the valves they need to process oil and gas. Some valves may be broken or damaged. They cannot change them.
Gazprom has not said anything in this regard.
Meanwhile, scientists say the financial and environmental costs are increasing daily. Rystad Energy official Cindre Knutson said the exact cause of the fire is unknown. It's also not clear that Russia will cut fuel prices tomorrow under these circumstances. Otherwise, Russia would have exported this gas through Nord Stream-1 or some other means.
Fuel prices have soared around the world after the coronavirus restrictions were lifted. Fuel suppliers are under a lot of pressure. Fuel prices rose after the Russian attack on Ukraine in February this year. European governments are making efforts to reduce energy imports from Russia. Before this, 40 percent of Europe's gas came from Russia. Now the price of gas from different sources has also increased. Germany and Spain therefore have to take various measures to save energy.
Meanwhile, the data of the World Bank says that Russia has a record of burning gas. Russia tops the world in terms of gas burning in the world. 9 thousand tons of carbon dioxide is released every day in the world from burning this gas.
.jpeg)
0 Comments