Nord Stream Leaks: How Dangerous is the Leaking Gas for the Environment?

Created: 09/29/2022, 12:48 p.m

By: Michelle Brey

Four gas leaks on Nord Stream Pipelines 1 and 2 are a cause for concern.

How will the escaping methane affect the environment?

Berlin - While the question of who caused the gas leaks initially remains unanswered, environmental concerns are growing.

What are the effects of the leaks on the Baltic Sea pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2?

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the German Environmental Aid (DUH) made assessments.

Gas leaks at the Nord Stream pipelines: what is known?

A total of three leaks were discovered in one of the tubes of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and in both tubes of Nord Stream 1 after the first pressure drops earlier in the week (September 26).

The leaks are near the Danish island of Bornholm.

Explosions were recorded in the region earlier in the week.

The EU and NATO assume sabotage.

Ukraine and the West blamed Russia for the gas leaks.

A fourth leak was discovered on Thursday.

Gas leaks at Baltic Sea pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2:

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is concerned about escaping methane after the leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 Baltic Sea gas pipelines.

This emerges from a press release on Wednesday (September 28).

According to calculations by the authority, the damage leads to around 7.5 million tons of so-called CO2 equivalents.

The UBA announced that this corresponds to about one percent of the total German annual emissions.

The calculation is based on estimated filling status and volume information for the two pipelines.

For better comparability, other greenhouse gases are converted into CO2 equivalents.

The benchmark is their respective contribution to global warming compared to carbon dioxide.

The UBA assumed on Wednesday that the leaks will release 0.3 million tons of methane into the atmosphere.

German environmental aid on Nord Stream leaks: "Remaining gas must be pumped out immediately"

The German Environmental Aid (DUH) called on the operators of the Nord Stream pipelines and the German regulatory authorities to immediately pump out the remaining gas from all strands of the Baltic Sea pipelines.

"The leaks are a super emitter event of unimaginable proportions," said Federal Managing Director Sascha Müller-Kraenner in a statement.

"The remaining gas must be pumped out of all pipeline strings immediately."

Impact of gas leaks on climate change rather small

"The climate process will not be changed as a result," estimated Oliver Schmale, researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, on Wednesday (September 28).

However, the scientist did not want to downplay the damage caused by the greenhouse gas methane.

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The greenhouse gas effect is around 25 times stronger with methane than with CO2.

Due to the accumulation of gases in the atmosphere, energy radiated from the earth - which would actually escape into space - is thrown back again.

According to Schmale, from a purely scientific point of view, it would make sense to ignite the escaping natural gas above the water surface and thus trigger its conversion to CO2.

However, he cannot assess whether this is feasible in practice.

According to the information, the natural gas escaping from the pipeline consists of around 97 percent methane.

According to the employee of the Leibniz Institute, only a little methane is likely to be dissolved in the water due to the relatively shallow water depth of the Nord Stream damage, at a maximum of 88 meters.

A comparison: In 2010, the gas escaping from the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico was dissolved due to the high water pressure at great depths and was oxidized to CO2 by bacteria in the water.

What are the effects of gas leaks on the marine environment?

Schmale also supported statements by the DUH and the Nature Conservation Union, according to which the direct effects on the marine environment from the methane escape are likely to be more local.

Although oxygen could be removed from the water in the vicinity of the leaks, the circulation of the water masses should limit this effect of the diffusion of oxygen dissolved in the water into the gas bubbles escaping from the seabed.

The head of the Baltic Sea office of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Finn Viehberg, nevertheless called for a closer look: “The damage to the marine environment must be analyzed immediately.

It is still unclear what the gas leaks mean for the organisms in the region concerned.”

After the alleged sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, the EU is planning stress tests for the critical infrastructure.