Published on04/03/2021, 5:07pm

Falling gas prices and a lack of maintenance may have contributed to a 40% increase in the number of methane releases from Russian pipelines in 2020, analysts say

Methane, which is released into the atmosphere through leaky gas pipes, has a global warming impact 84 times higher than CO2 over 20 years (Pic:LHoon/Flickr)

ByIsabelle Gerretsen

The number of methane plumes emitted from Russian gas infrastructure rose by 40% in 2020, satellite monitoring has revealed, raising concerns over the global warming impact.

Increasingly frequent methane releases from venting, flaring or leakage along two major gas pipelines came despite an estimated 14% drop in exports to Europe.

Analysis firmKayrros detected13 methane emission events around the Yamal-Europe pipeline – a 4,196 km pipeline running through Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany – and a further 33 around the Brotherhood pipeline, 2,750-km long gas pipeline through Russia…