A Methane Cloud Highlights Cracks in Canada’s Climate Ambitions
National and local regulators say they weren’t aware of a plume of the potent greenhouse gas spotted near the Saskatchewan-Alberta border last month.
Methane spotted by satellite over Canada on Sept. 28.
Kayrros SASCanadian regulators said they were unaware of a methane cloud spotted by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite last month near gas pipelines, highlighting a disconnect between the nation’s climate ambitions and its emissions, which are the second highest per capita among G-20 countries. Methane is a greenhouse gas about 80 times as potent in the short term as carbon dioxide.
Geoanalytics firm Kayrros SAS, which analyzed data from Sentinel-5P, identified the Sept. 28 plume. The French-based firm estimated the methane cloud had an emissions rate of 11 metric tons an hour. If the event lasted an hour at that rate, it would have the same short-term climate impact as the annual carbon emissions equivalent from about 200 US cars. Kayrros attributed the cloud to the oil and gas sector.