The Nord Stream pipeline gas leaks released approximately 220,000 tonnes of methane into the atmosphere

Mengwei Jia; Fei Li; Yuzhong Zhang; Mousong Wu; Yingsong Li; Shuzhuang Feng; Hengmao Wang; Huilin Chen; Weimin Ju; Jun Lin; Jianwei Cai; Yongguang Zhang; Fei Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.ese.2022.100210

The Nord Stream pipeline gas leaks released approximately 220,000 tonnes of methane into the atmosphere

Environ Sci Ecotechnol. 2022 Oct 26:12:100210. doi: 10.1016/j.ese.2022.100210. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

Mengwei Jia¹, Fei Li¹, Yuzhong Zhang², Mousong Wu¹, Yingsong Li¹, Shuzhuang Feng¹, Hengmao Wang¹, Huilin Chen³, Weimin Ju¹, Jun Lin⁴, Jianwei Cai⁴, Yongguang Zhang^{1

5

6}, Fei Jiang^{1

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
² Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310030, China.
³ Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
⁴ China Centre for Resources Satellite Data and Application, Beijing, 100094, China.
⁵ International Joint Carbon Neutrality Laboratory, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
⁶ Nantong Academy of Intelligent Sensing, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, 226000, China.
⁷ Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
⁸ Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.

Abstract

Sudden mega natural gas leaks of two Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea (Denmark) occurred from late September to early October 2022, releasing large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. We inferred the methane emissions of this event based on surface in situ observations using two inversion methods and two meteorological reanalysis datasets, supplemented with satellite-based observations. We conclude that approximately 220 ± 30 Gg of methane was released from September 26 to October 1, 2022.