Project Klima-Erdgas-Emissionen-LNG (KEEL) - Methane emissions and climate footprint of natural gas
Country / Region: Germany / Global
Begin of project: May 15, 2020
End of project: May 14, 2023
Status of project: January 1, 2022
Gasflamme
Source: BGR
The reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that global warming since pre-industrial times is already around 1.1°C and is mainly caused by human activity. Globally, the central challenge is to limit global warming to well below 2°C, if possible to 1.5°C, as agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement. Natural gas as a bridging technology can only be part of a strategy to avoid greenhouse gas emissions in the short term if targeted measures are taken to mitigate or avoid methane emissions along the supply chain (see "Global Methane Initiative-GMI").
Methane, generally the main component of natural gas, is the second most harmful greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Around one third of global warming so far can be attributed to methane in the Earth's atmosphere. Compared to natural sources, the anthropogenic share of methane emissions accounts for about 50-60 %. Methane emissions also occur in the oil and gas sector during production and along the supply chain. Methane emissions along the entire natural gas supply chain have to be considered in order to determine if any climate benefit can be achieved by a short-term switch from coal to natural gas in the electricity sector.
The BGR has prepared a literature study (BGR 2020) in 2020 in order to shed light on the current state of research on methane emissions with reference to the countries supplying natural gas to Germany. With a view to the greenhouse gas balance in the event of a switch from coal to natural gas for electricity generation in Germany, BGR has analysed and modelled the natural gas emission rates in the upstream chain up to which natural gas would still have a climate advantage (Ladage, Blumenberg, Franke et al. 2021). As long as the total natural gas upstream emissions remain below a leakage rate of approx. 4.1%, there are fewer greenhouse gas emissions overall than with coal-fired power generation. The extent to which old wells still release methane is being investigated in several BGR measurement campaigns on- and offshore. Within the framework of Technical Cooperation, BGR supports the reduction of flaring and venting of associated gas in developing countries (BGR 2015).
Literature:
- Commodity TopNews 47 (2015): Minimierung des Abfackelns von Erdölbegleitgas - Bedeutung und Potenziale (PDF, 2 MB)
- Klimabilanz von Erdgas Literaturstudie zu Methanemissionen bei der Erdgasförderung sowie dem Flüssiggas- und Pipelinetransport nach Deutschland (PDF, 9 MB)
Ladage, S., Blumenberg, M., Franke, D. et al.: On the climate benefit of a coal-to-gas shift in Germany’s electric power sector. Sci Rep 11, 11453 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90839-7
External information sources
- IPCC Sixth Assessment Report -AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
- Umweltbundesamt Treibhausgasemissions Inventar Deutschland: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/themen/klima-energie/treibhausgas-emissionen
- International Energy Agency (IEA) – Methane Tracker 2021. https://www.iea.org/reports/methane-tracker-2021/methane-and-climate-change
Global Methane Initiative-GMI. https://globalmethane.org/