Missed Methane Cloud Reveals Cracks in Canada’s Emissions Reporting:

The European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite recorded the
methane plume near Lloydminster, Alberta, an area near the Saskatchewan
border that is dense with active and abandoned oil and gas
infrastructure. France-based geoanalytics firm Kayrros SAS examined the
data and estimated that the methane cloud originated within 10
kilometers of gas pipelines operated by SaskEnergy Inc. and
Calgary-based pipeliner TC Energy. With emissions measured at 11 tonnes
per hour, the methane plume had the same short-term climate impact as
the annual emissions of 200 cars, had the event lasted a full hour,
Bloomberg Green says.

Federal and local regulators said they were
not informed about the methane cloud and there was no significant
venting reported in the area at the time. The Alberta Energy Regulator,
which uses a subset of Sentinel-5P data to monitor persistent regional
emitters, said the plume didn’t show up in that data, Bloomberg writes.
And officials said elevated methane concentrations do not necessarily
indicate non-compliance or a cause related to the industry. Canadian oil
and gas operators are only required to report methane releases that are
unintended or uncontrolled, the news story ads.

Canada was an inaugural member
of the Global Methane Pledge at last year’s COP 26 climate summit, and
plans to slash methane emissions more than 35% from 2020 levels by 2030.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has said the country is on track
for a reduction of more than 40% from 2012 levels by 2025.

And
yet Canada’s methane and carbon dioxide releases have increased more
than any other G7 country. Trudeau has defended Canada’s climate action
during his tenure as prime minister but acknowledged that “it’s taking a
while” for the effects to show up in emissions.