The Danish Energy Agency said that 778 million cubic meters of natural gas could escape from leaks on three Nord Stream pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea, according to an initial estimate based on the worst-case scenario.
European authorities are investigating gas leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines after pressure dropped suddenly on Monday.
That amounts to the greenhouse-gas equivalent of about 14.6 million tons of carbon dioxide, or about 2% of all U.S. methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure, agriculture, waste, and mining activities in 2020, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That would also equate about 32% of Denmark’s total annual emissions, based on 2020 figures, the Danish agency said.
Danish and Swedish authorities reported the leaks this week. They have created large-diameter circles of bubbling water just above the ruptures on the pipelines, which rest on the seabed. Denmark and Sweden say they are investigating the cause of the leaks, but several Western officials have cited sabotage. Some are blaming Russia. Moscow has also called the leaks sabotage but has denied any role.
Leaks on two Russian natural-gas pipelines
European authorities are investigating gas leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines after pressure dropped suddenly on Monday.
Concrete weight coating: 2.4 to 3.9 inches
Pipe steel
1.1 to 1.6 inches
Corrosion protection: 0.16 inches
Leaks on two Russian natural-gas pipelines
European authorities are investigating gas leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines after pressure dropped suddenly on Monday.
Concrete weight coating:
2.4 to 3.9 inches
Pipe steel
1.1 to 1.6 inches
Corrosion
protection: 0.16 inches
Leaks on two Russian natural-gas pipelines
European authorities are investigating gas leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines after pressure dropped suddenly on Monday.
Concrete weight coating:
2.4 to 3.9 inches
Pipe steel
1.1 to 1.6 inches
Corrosion protection:
0.16 inches
“It’s definitely not good,” said Dr. Amy Townsend-Small, professor of environmental science at the University of Cincinnati. “Methane is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential much higher than carbon dioxide, so it heats up the Earth really fast right after it is released. It’s really wasteful.”
Some of that escaping natural gas, which contains methane, will probably be absorbed by the ocean before reaching the surface, according to Dr. Zitely Tzompa-Sosa, technical advocate for the Clean Air Task Force, a non-profit environmental group based in Boston.
“We are talking about a lot,” Dr. Tzompa-Sosa. Due to the pressure in the pipeline, most of the gas likely escaped a few hours after leaks first opened, she said. Satellites that can measure methane emissions from space have been blocked by clouds or stymied by reflecting sunlight off the ocean surface, said Dr. Tzompa-Sosa, making it more difficult to assess the size of the release.
Write to Eric Niiler at eric.niiler@wsj.com
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