Climate killer methane: On the hunt for natural gas leaks with Theo
I'm travelling in Croatia, looking for leaks in the natural gas network from which methane is escaping, one of the most dangerous climate killers of all. The European Union wants to reduce emissions.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/21/climate-killer-methane-on-the-hunt-for-natural-gas-leaks-with-theo
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I'm travelling in Croatia, looking for leaks in the natural gas network from which methane is escaping, one of the most dangerous climate killers of all. The European Union wants to reduce emissions.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/21/climate-killer-methane-on-the-hunt-for-natural-gas-leaks-with-theo
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:00Wow, what's going on here?
00:08I'm in Kroatia in search for undichten Stellen im Erdgasnetz,
00:12in which Methan is one of the dangerous climate killers everywhere.
00:16The European Union wants to bring him to the Strecke.
00:25Methan is for almost a third of the global earthworms responsible.
00:30Im 20-Jahres-Vergleich ist Methan sogar 80-mal schädlicher fürs Klima als CO2.
00:36Landwirtschaft, schlecht abgedichtete MĂĽlldeponie
00:39und die Nutzung fossiler Energieträger sind die menschlichen Hauptquellen.
00:44Im Vergleich zum vorindustriellen Niveau ist der Methangehalt in der Atmosphäre um 260% gestiegen.
00:52Seit 2000 kommt jährlich so viel Methan hinzu,
00:55dass der Klimaschaden so groĂź ist wie der von 350 Millionen Autos.
01:02Ă„ndert sich nichts, wird es auf der Erde bis Ende des Jahrhunderts bis zu 4 Grad Celsius heiĂźer.
01:09Insbesondere bei Förderung, Aufbereitung, Transport, Verteilung und Speicherung von Erdgas entweicht Methan.
01:16Der Klimakiller gelangt aus Bohrlöchern und beim Abfackeln ebenso an die Luft wie aus undichten Pipelines und Verdichterstationen.
01:25Ein neues EU-Gesetz will damit Schluss machen.
01:28Unternehmen mĂĽssen ihre Anlagen besser ĂĽberwachen.
01:31Alle Methan-Emissionen mĂĽssen genau erfasst werden.
01:33Das routinemäßige Abfackeln ist verboten.
01:36Und wenn irgendwo ein Leck entdeckt wird, muss sofort repariert werden.
01:41So steht es im EU-Gesetz.
01:43Lecks stopfen lohnt sich, denn das Methan lässt sich verkaufen.
01:47Zusammen mit 159 Partnerländern hat sich die Europäische Union verpflichtet,
01:52die weltweiten Methan-Emissionen von 2020, 2030 um ein Drittel zu senken.
01:57Ob das klappt, muss sich erst noch zeigen.
01:59Theo schnappt sich seinen 100.000-Euro-Koffer, eine Hightech-Spezialkamera.
02:12Heute und morgen sind wir Methan-Hunting in Kroatien.
02:15Wir werden ein paar Ă–l- und Gas-Facilien besuchen.
02:18Wir werden eine Anlage fĂĽr Leakungen besuchen.
02:20Wir werden sicher, dass die Unternehmen nicht Gas verlassen.
02:24Kroatien baut sein Pipeline-Netz massiv aus.
02:28Das Geld kommt aus dem europäischen Krisenfonds RRF, satte 533 Millionen Euro.
02:35Kroatien will Europas Drehscheibe fĂĽr Erdgas-Importe werden.
02:39Doch auch vor Ort wird gefördert.
02:41Der erste Ă–lbrunnen wurde 1886 gebohrt.
02:43Ja, wir sind in Kroatien unterwegs auf den Spuren eines Klimakillers Methan.
02:51Unsichtbares Gas, aber Theo, viel mit seiner Wärmebildkamera, kann es trotzdem sehen.
02:55Okay, let's go.
02:57Methan in der Atmosphäre ist 80-mal schädlicher als Kohlendioxid.
03:02Theo ist Wärmebildtechniker und arbeitet für die internationale Klimaschutzorganisation CATF.
03:08That's a lot of gas, wow.
03:13For such a small oil well, I'm very surprised to see that much gas now.
03:17When the rod is being pulled up, it's like a big cloud of gas coming out.
03:21This is shameful.
03:23Next destination will be over there.
03:25Yeah, exactly.
03:27I'm quite worried to find a lot of methane.
03:30The storage tanks look fairly mismanaged.
03:33Statt Methan wieder in das System einzuspeisen, investieren manche Unternehmen lieber in neue Ă–l- und Gasfelder.
03:45Das bringt höhere Gewinne.
03:47Oft liegt das Problem auch bei Subunternehmern oder es fehlt an technischem Wissen.
03:51That's good, they are having protective equipment.
04:01There, there is a leak from the gas part of the facility.
04:06Wow, that's insane.
04:08This is voluntary also, like they know that they are releasing this gas.
04:13Another one.
04:15This one is really big, I'm really surprised about that.
04:17Normally you don't really see stuff like that.
04:18This is the kind of thing, I'm not sure they are aware.
04:21There's a valve.
04:23This is open, I don't know why, but it's releasing lots of gas.
04:26That's super dangerous.
04:30Lecks mĂĽssen innerhalb von fĂĽnf Tagen repariert werden, so steht es im EU-Gesetz.
04:35Und was ist mit dem EntlĂĽften von Anlagen, so wie hier?
04:39The new methane regulation in Europe states that this practice is banned.
04:43Mitten in der Kleinstadt Dugosello entdecken wir eine Flamme.
04:48This flare is burning the gas that is also produced on that field.
04:53Oh, big outburst now.
04:55This practice is banned in the EU.
04:58We have the new methane regulation since August 2024.
05:02Burning gas like that is not legal.
05:05Unser Planet heizt sich auf.
05:08Deshalb hat Europa harte Gesetze verabschiedet.
05:11Die Mitgliedstaaten mĂĽssen sie umsetzen.
05:18Niemand weiß, wie viel Metall aus undichten Pipelines und Ventilen in die Atmosphäre gelangt.
05:24Dabei ist das Treibhausgas 80 Mal gefährlicher für das Klima als CO2.
05:27In Paris treffe ich den Methanexperten der Internationalen Energieagentur.
05:33Well, I'm coming from Croatia, from the ground, looking, chasing for methane emissions.
05:38I have a lot of questions.
05:39Lovely, looking forward to it.
05:41Great, let's do the interview.
05:43First question from the ground, a technician checking on methane leaks.
05:48We have a methane regulation in Europe.
05:50How can we make sure that methane emissions will be reduced globally?
05:54Well, your action.
05:56In the EU methane regulation, reporting verification requirements apply not only to domestic operations,
06:03but starting from 2027 and onwards also to fuels that are placed in the European market,
06:10so fuels from imports.
06:12Second question from the ground comes from Greenpeace Croatia.
06:15How can we make sure that oil and gas companies won't be in the future hiding their data on methane leaks?
06:21There's been a lot of interesting data coming from satellites.
06:25We'll need to have other measurements on the ground to make sure that we have reliable data
06:29of how much methane is coming from oil and gas.
06:32Actually, the methane emissions are completely underreported.
06:35When we aggregate all emissions submitted officially,
06:39we get to about 40 million tons of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.
06:44Our estimate is of 80 million tons of methane from oil and gas, so that's the double.
06:48Why methane is so dangerous?
06:52Methane is responsible for around 30% of the global warming to date.
06:56To what extent the EU methane regulation could be a model?
06:59In the EU methane regulation we see leak detection and repair requirements,
07:03a ban on routine flaring.
07:05These are things that other countries can also do.
07:08Isn't there a risk that we won't meet our targets?
07:11We see a reduction in fossil fuel methane emissions of about 25% to 2030.
07:17So that's a very far cry from what we need, which is about a 75% reduction.
07:22All those leaks, it's wasted money, about 50 billion euros a year.
07:28Why companies are burning the money?
07:30Sometimes they are not really aware of the amount of emissions.
07:32About 40% of methane emissions from oil and gas could be abated at no net cost.
07:39Forward-looking, what's your wish list?
07:41Methane emissions cannot be standard industry practice.
07:44Just as routine flaring can't be standard industry practice.
07:48This needs to be things of the past.
07:49Grindr
08:12, the Justice of the Past