Víctor Osorio/ Reform Agency
Tuesday, February 21, 2023 | 12:52
CDMX.- Mexico’s methane emissions fell 4.4 percent in the last year, despite leaks at Pemex facilities offshore, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) released Tuesday.
The agency’s Methane Tracker database indicates that the country’s emissions went from 6 million 300 thousand in 2021 to 6 million 51 thousand tons in 2022.
Mexico’s participation in global methane emissions thus decreased from 1.8 to 1.7 percent.
The figure estimated by the IEA for 2022 is, however, 1.5 million tons higher than that of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
In its Global Methane Tracker 23 report, the Agency warned that the combination of high energy prices, concerns about security of supply and economic uncertainty were not enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions last year.
It indicated that the global energy industry was responsible for 135 million tons of methane released into the atmosphere in 2022, just slightly below the all-time highs seen in 2019.
The energy sector, he pointed out, represents about 40 percent of total methane emissions attributable to human activity, second only to agriculture.
In the case of Mexico, the energy sector contributes 26 of the emissions, 33 percent from waste and 40 percent from agriculture.
And of the energy sector’s emissions, 45 percent originate from offshore oil extraction operations. Another 11 percent corresponds to fugitive emissions from gas pipelines.
The report highlights that satellite imagery made it possible to detect very large methane leaks from oil and gas operations in 2022.
“Events were observed in 20 countries and satellites were able to detect and quantify leaks from offshore operations for the first time, including 17 days of emissions from facility malfunctions in Mexico and emissions released after explosions along the pipeline. Nord Stream”, he points out.
