In:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Copernicus GmbH, Vol. 23, No. 10 ( 2023-05-31), p. 5945-5967
Abstract:
Abstract. We use 2019 TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane
in an analytical inversion to quantify methane emissions from the Middle
East and North Africa at up to ∼25 km × 25 km
resolution, using spatially allocated national United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reports as prior
estimates for the fuel sector. Our resulting best estimate of anthropogenic
emissions for the region is 35 % higher than the prior bottom-up
inventories (+103 % for gas, +53 % for waste, +49 % for
livestock, −14 % for oil) with large variability across countries. Oil and
gas account for 38 % of total anthropogenic emissions in the region.
TROPOMI observations can effectively optimize and separate national
emissions by sector for most of the 23 countries in the region, with 6
countries accounting for most of total anthropogenic emissions including
Iran (5.3 (5.0–5.5) Tg a−1; best estimate and uncertainty range),
Turkmenistan (4.4 (2.8–5.1) Tg a−1), Saudi Arabia (4.3 (2.4–6.0) Tg a−1), Algeria (3.5 (2.4–4.4) Tg a−1), Egypt (3.4 (2.5–4.0) Tg a−1), and Turkey (3.0 (2.0–4.1) Tg a−1). Most oil–gas emissions
are from the production (upstream) subsector, but Iran, Turkmenistan, and
Saudi Arabia have large gas emissions from transmission and distribution
subsectors. We identify a high number of annual oil–gas emission hotspots in
Turkmenistan, Algeria, and Oman and offshore in the Persian Gulf. We show that
oil–gas methane emissions for individual countries are not related to
production, invalidating a basic premise in the construction of
activity-based bottom-up inventories. Instead, local infrastructure and
management practices appear to be key drivers of oil–gas emissions,
emphasizing the need for including top-down information from atmospheric
observations in the construction of oil–gas emission inventories. We
examined the methane intensity, defined as the upstream oil–gas emission per
unit of methane gas produced, as a measure of the potential for decreasing
emissions from the oil–gas sector and using as reference the 0.2 % target
set by the industry. We find that the methane intensity in most countries is
considerably higher than this target, reflecting leaky infrastructure
combined with deliberate venting or incomplete flaring of gas. However, we
also find that Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar meet the industry target and
thus show that the target is achievable through the capture of associated gas,
modern infrastructure, and the concentration of operations. Decreasing methane
intensities across the Middle East and North Africa to 0.2 % would achieve
a 90 % decrease in oil–gas upstream emissions and a 26 % decrease in
total anthropogenic methane emissions in the region, making a significant
contribution toward the Global Methane Pledge.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1680-7324
DOI:
10.5194/acp-23-5945-2023
DOI:
10.5194/acp-23-5945-2023-supplement
Language:
English
Publisher:
Copernicus GmbH
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2092549-9
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2069847-1
Bookmarklink
