Study Shows 5% Of World's Natural Gas Is Being Flared

摘要

A recent GE study, Flare Gas Reduction: Recent Global Trends and Policy Considerations, estimates that 5% of the world's natural gas production is wasted by burning or "flaring" each year — an amount equivalent to 30% of consumption in the European Union and 23% in the United States. Gas flaring emits 400 million metric tons of CO_2 annually, the same as 77 million automobiles, without producing useful heat or electricity. Worldwide, billions of cubic meters of natural gas are wasted annually, typically as a by-product of oil extraction.