NEW SCIENTIST, CNN, GUARDIAN etc: Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines to Europe suffer mysterious leaks

Press/Media: Expert comment

Period27 Sept 2022 → 29 Sept 2022

Media contributions

5

Media contributions

  • TitleNord Stream gas ruptures could leak ‘unprecedented’ amount of this potent greenhouse gas
    Media name/outletCNN
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date29/09/22
    DescriptionThe event itself may be over quite quickly. Grant Allen, an environmental scientist at the University of Manchester, stressed to CNN this is a “time-limited event.”
    URLhttps://us.cnn.com/2022/09/29/europe/nord-stream-gas-leak-methane-climate-intl/index.html
    PersonsGrant Allen
  • TitleNord Stream gas leaks may be biggest ever, with warning of ‘large climate risk’
    Media name/outletThe Guardian
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date28/09/22
    DescriptionProf Grant Allen, an expert in Earth and environmental science at Manchester University, said it was unlikely that natural processes, which convert small amounts of methane into carbon dioxide, would be able to absorb much of the leak.

    Allen said: “This is a colossal amount of gas, in really large bubbles. If you have small sources of gas, nature will help out by digesting the gas. In the Deepwater Horizon spill, there was a lot of attenuation of methane by bacteria.

    “My scientific experience is telling me that – with a big blow-up like this – methane will not have time to be attenuated by nature. So a significant proportion will be vented as methane gas.”

    Unlike an oil spill, gas will not have as polluting an effect on the marine environment, Allen said. “But in terms of greenhouse gases, it’s a reckless and unnecessary emission to the atmosphere.”
    URLhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/28/nord-stream-methane-gas-leaks-may-be-biggest-ever-with-warning-large-climate-risk
    PersonsGrant Allen
  • TitleNord Stream pipeline leaks could release enough gas to power 100,000 UK homes for a year, expert warns
    Media name/outletThe i
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date28/09/22
    DescriptionGrant Allen, professor of atmospheric physics, University of Manchester, said: “The environmental impact here is limited to the greenhouse gas emissions (mainly methane) from the natural gas left in the pipe.”

    “Some of the methane emitted from the pipeline on the seabed will be oxidised by methanotrophic microbes (into CO2) as it rises in the water column. But given how violent the venting of natural gas appears to be, most of the gas will reach the sea surface as methane, a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

    “It has been estimated that there may be up to 177 million cubic metres of natural gas still residual in Nord Stream 2 alone. This amount of gas is equivalent to the natural gas used by 124,000 UK homes in a year. This is not a small amount of gas, and represents a reckless emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.”
    URLhttps://inews.co.uk/news/environment/nord-stream-pipeline-leaks-release-gas-power-uk-homes-year-1882647
    PersonsGrant Allen
  • TitleNord Stream gas leaks dubbed an 'environmental crime': Pipes could release up to 200,000 TONNES of methane - raising fears the potent greenhouse gas could threaten marine life and cause an 'unprecedented' climate catastrophe
    Media name/outletMail Online
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date28/09/22
    DescriptionProfessor Grant Allen, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Manchester, agrees that: 'The impact will be limited as the pipelines are not pumping, just pressurised, so once the gas has escaped, the event will stop.

    'Some of the methane emitted from the pipeline on the seabed will be oxidised by methanotrophic microbes (into CO2) as it rises in the water column.

    'But given how violent the venting of natural gas appears to be, most of the gas will reach the sea surface as methane, a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.'
    URLhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11258315/Nord-Stream-gas-leaks-release-200-000-TONNES-methane-raising-climate-fears.html
    PersonsGrant Allen
  • TitleRussia's Nord Stream gas pipelines to Europe suffer mysterious leaks
    Media name/outletNew Scientist
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date27/09/22
    DescriptionThe New Scientist report that the two key gas pipelines designed to bring Russian gas to Europe had developed leaks within hours of each other, sparking fears of deliberate sabotage. Professor Grant Allen said he believes that emissions from the leaks will be released into the atmosphere before the seawater has the chance to turn the methane within the gas into carbon dioxide.
    URLhttps://www.newscientist.com/article/2339640-russias-nord-stream-gas-pipelines-to-europe-suffer-mysterious-leaks/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home
    PersonsGrant Allen

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Energy

Keywords

  • Russia-Ukraine war
  • gas pipelines
  • energy
  • engineering
  • climate change