The, at nearly 3000 meters high. The dukes fits is famous for its breath taking panorama. And some of the cleanest air in germany at the summit, the highest Environmental Research station in the country. It includes an observatory that monitors the Earth Atmosphere throughout the year with a focus on potent Greenhouse Gases. The for the complex analyses physicist ralph system and from the Karlsruhe Institute of technology capture some the and directly into the interior of the mountain station with a system of gold coated mirrors. So what is the state of the earth delicate atmosphere . The in the laboratory, a spectrum meter separates the light and analyzes the individual wavelength with up to 140. 00 measurements per day. The team gains extremely precise insight into the composition of the atmosphere locus. So marcus, lets take a look at our current solar measurements for years. Theyve noted an increase in the concentration of Greenhouse Gases. This is whats going on. It turned out, well today, this is the sun life and i can see these fingerprint. The fingerprints from the beach gas produces typical lines in the solar spectrum. The deeper the blue gaps and the spectrum, the more gas was measured. You know exactly the double line. If you zoom in there again, the 2 lines, maybe hes very concerned about rising methane. This baton is items can be seen as quite a critical global warmer. On the one hand you might think is harmless because it disappears from the atmosphere within 10 years. Quite the opposite of Carbon Dioxide which lingers for thousands of years. So you might think its harmless. On the other hand, in your own, in those 10 years that meeting is in the atmosphere, its contribution to the greenhouse effect is at least a 100 times that of Carbon Dioxide. This include the after c, o 2, methane is the most important human cost Greenhouse Gas, and accounts for about a quarter of Global Warming to date. So where exactly does the color list order list gas come from . There are some Natural Sources in wetlands, nothing escapes as organic matter decomposes, and its also released in forest fires. But the massive increase in methane emissions since the beginning of the industrial era is due to humans. Large quantities are emitted in intensive live stock farming. And in the x direction and use of fossil fuels, the methane is the main component of natural gas as low as human activity has more than doubled the concentration of methane in the atmosphere to push to how much of this is due to fossil fuels. Doesnt really understand some kind of a mazda moment, does need his honest and what could be causing the extremely accelerated increase that researchers have been observing in the last 15 in years volunteer. These invite is on this. Let us use a decisive clue for ralph susan, lies in measuring another gas at thanksgiving week. A ton of the sites always extinguish nonsense when the sky you see now is the 2nd most abundant components of natural gas. After me saying, whats an agriculture in castle farming . It was. Theres no easy natal, im just i so the fact that theres a sharp rise and missing and 20 or 7 is this all the same time. Theres also a southern increase in the scene is very telling me time, we can actually then calculate the 40 percent of this, of the swing display of this entire increase and not in a skirt concentration from 20 a 7 till to date. This is caused by oil and Gas Production. So if it was international studies, confirm, there are more than 80000000. 00 tons of methane entering the atmosphere as natural gas every year. How can it be we launched an elaborate investigation in search of the source of these climate impacting emissions, natural gas, the allegedly clean the fuel is used to heat about a 3rd of europes homes, offices and stores, to feed the demand, an underground network of Gas Pipelines criss crosses our cities is natural gas escaping from this Distribution System on notice the Thomas Rockman of the Dutch University of food tract is trying to find out the measurements, taken by his american colleagues, have inspired the climate scientist to search for evidence in europe. The. His van is equipped with technology that continuously monitors the surrounding air. For traces of methane, the, the 2 researchers drive through the streets of tract constantly on the lookout for unusually high concentrations of methane, the its not long before the alert goes off. Oh yeah. Very good. The reading shows a sudden jump in methane level. Is there a natural gas leak nearby . Now they have to follow the trail. On the flip side, where exactly is the color listen to odorless gas coming from. With their immobile detector, they slowly work their way to the source. The post in Greenhouse Gas is seeping out through cracks in the pavement. Yep. 6 by 3 pm. Since that thing and methane levels are measured simultaneously, they can immediately distinguish natural gas from other methane sources, such as waste water. Right at the drain, the concentration is almost high enough to present an explosion risk. And this is, this is a big one here, right . Its a clear case. Natural gas is seeping out. The ones you think the bigger mess is gonna be a problem. We find these regularly on practically every else thing. We find a handful of leaks. Well now report that to the Gas Network Operator info and then, but theres probably a gas leak here and they can actually dig a hole and find out exactly where the lake is. And we can see that from the surface, of course, we can only see the point where its entering the at misty ever. Around this time, thomas workmans fines further leaks and several other streams that we have to be none, however large enough to oppose the risk to residents the the local gas supplier is unaware of all these leak. And although they themselves checks the pipes, the guy says, oh god, what does she be sure for the Gas Appliance motor to the straits of Different Team to move . And of course, it depends on what kind of pipeline materials theyve used drop. Its generally annual check stock and also the every 3 or 5 years on. So it means if a lake like that it goes and isnt found quickly, it can be there for months. So with this before its actually repaired, then the emissions has stopped winter and hopefully we certainly stop here. That was any, not a cities, it can be bookman. And several researchers from other universities have been tracking down methane leaks across europe and 11 cities to date. But they need to see the conclusion everywhere. Precious natural gas is escaping the grid. This could be largely prevented if gas suppliers carried out more frequent and thorough monitoring by 50 percent. But their investigations also clearly show that the municipal gas networks are probably only responsible for a small percentage of the 80000000. 00 tons of methane that escape in the form of natural gas. So wheres the rest coming from the in paris, we visit a company that specializes in Global Energy and environmental analysis. The startup k rose was founded to advise companies and investors in the oil and gas sector. One of the founders and one half was formally cheap analyst at the International Energy agency at k row supervisors. Clients with high quality data on the extraction, trade and consumption of oil and gas. But some of his clients began asking if and where methane was escaping in the process. His team of data analysts set out to investigate using publicly available information in the European Environmental satellites. Sentinel, 5 p has been orbiting the earth since october 2017. The instruments on board measure pollutants such as ozone, and formaldehyde, as well as methane once a day. This produces a map of methane concentrations across the globe. But this measures the total methane released over the years from Natural Sources. And man made sources such as agriculture and industry. Can the methane currently entering the atmosphere as natural gas be tracked down in this mountain of data . It changed its huge amount of processing, Artificial Intelligence modeling. You need to understand everything, you need to understand the whole industry. You need to understand how the weather and we by chance affect the dispersion of methane. So we combine all these inputs to develop algorithms that process the, the data Data Specialists and parents have recently succeeded in what was previously impossible. Theyve used computer programs to identify specific locations where natural gas, nothing is being released. These are found worldwide precisely where major production sites of natural gas and oil are located method. And these are problem is that it gets even for a long time, theres been there kind of a defensive digital voice mail saying, no, no, im not, im not doing anything thats saying no, those measurements cannot be right. Im doing, im good. And transparency is to selecting for many, many produces, including some of the majors. Does this also apply to companies in germany . We tried to gain access to one of the approximately 1100 production facilities in the country. After a rejection by oil diet, exxon, we negotiated with germanys largest oil and gas company ventures, how they finally, we obtained permission to visit a Gas Production facility, east of fremont. The are large quantities of methane escaping here and noticed the vendors how data has recently begun to address this question. Its voluntarily committed to inspecting its facilities for leaks once a year, which it did in germany for the 1st time. At the end of 2021 sensitive gas cameras are used to detect potential trouble spots. Using a gas cylinder technician marcel van to call like demonstrates how the camera works. Its the optical gas detection is based on the fact the gas is absorbed, atmospheric radiation, and become visible with in for read with conventional video technology, the gas is indivisible only and in for red mode doesnt show up as a black cloud, as the technicians systematically search the plant for leaks hundreds of valves, connections and pipelines have to be checked the in addition to the gas camera, a High Precision sniffing meter searches for the smallest leaks. The company says that a handful of minor leaks are usually detected during the to day inspection of such a plant. The gas camera doesnt register anything during our visit. Such images might not have been appreciated by the company. In the todds says, who do you want to name the missing ones who were funding on the companies are in fact trying to reduce emissions because its but you dont have to believe everything. They say exactly what im guessing is ill use these and thats why its important to carry out independent measurements and establish techniques that are properly tested so that companies can really deliver credible data, or do you want to name brokerage . So the bottom line is were still seeing an increase in methane company, and in the last year, more than ever before. And lets see, it hasnt got stack eyes just is here to help because you know, so where do the millions of tons of natural gas detected in the atmosphere come from not from germany, according to independent measurements. This is plausible, less than 0 point one percent of global oil and gas extraction takes place here. Europe as a whole, contributes only about 5 percent of global production. So it follows that europe share of global methane emissions from oil and gas would be relatively small. The major oil and gas reservoirs are found in russia and other states of the former soviet union. And in the middle east, with major producers in the persian gulf. In the past 15 years, production has increased significantly, especially in north america. Around a quarter of the world, oil and natural gas is now produced here much of it in the so called Permian Basin in south western us. This border region between the states of texas and new mexico is one of the Global Centers of this 1000000000 dollar industry. About 40 percent of us oil is produced here and natural Gas Production in the region has increased by 350 percent since 2011 new production records were announced in the 1st half of 2022. There are over 800000 wells in the Permian Basin rig upon rick. As far as the i can see how much natural gas along with methane escapes during production. The a Research Site at Colorado State university is dedicated to answering this question. So youre thinking over here, maybe for over a decade, engineer daniel assembly has been refining methods for detecting methane leaks in the industry. Second piece. Yes. So water over there to this and hes created a unique testing facility a. What at 1st glance looks like a typical oil and gas extraction facility is just a deceptively real facade. The, the natural gas does not come out of the ground here, but its delivered by truck it can be distributed throughout the site via hidden pipeline and release in a targeted manner. This allows researchers to test measuring devices and to trained technicians and detecting leaks and oil and Gas Production. Lets look at this as the, the vertical pipe. Theres a little valve sticking off horizontally on and they now know much more about the typical weak points and such a system here. Probably the big thing thats changed in the last 5 years is when we talked about fugitive emissions 5 years ago, people were interested in kind of small things like, you know, this joint or that joint or this piece of equipment. And that was where the focus was and what weve learned in the last 56 years is that the big problem is things we werent even looking at 5 years ago, where you end up with large emitters. Because some bell fails or some process failed. And you have a very large, youre talking about the companies that run those sites and the regulators. The companies that run decides the regulators that were constructing the programs. I would say even the n g os that were kind of looking at emissions didnt really quite understand the frequency and size large amounts of gas pouring unnoticed into the environment. Does this explains a huge increase of methane in the atmosphere. We turn to the International Association of oil and Gas Producers who secretary general him on hill. We made in houston for an interview. Were here today to talk about methane. Right . I mean, the oil and gas industry is a big and its, its international. Right . So do you represent, like all of it, we can confidently say that we represent our industry and we have members from every continent. Now we concern ourselves with looking across our membership and that membership and being as global as possible. To give a members the tool kits to be able to, as, as you know, accurately as possible, define the baselines with respect to what the current, me say, and emissions all, and then encourage them. And again, providing actual how deliverables in, in the form of a tool kit to allow them to start to put together, maintain emissions, reduction plans. And fundamentally, nobody in this sector doesnt believe theres not one Single Member company that i know of. That doesnt believe that this is a top priority for them. And its tough with the agenda for the work that, that, that theyre doing. It sounds exemplary, but none of the companies we contract in the us are willing to show us their production facilities. We receive one rejection after another. We respectfully decline participating in the production. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate your request at this time. At these time, we are not able to accommodate these request. Can large methane emissions really remain on noticed . Be contact independent researchers, the scientists at the Environmental Defense fund, e d, f, a non governmental environmental organizations. It is equipped with a special camera. This helicopter will be searching today for methane emissions here in south western us. And all findings will be systematically documented by adf experts. David lion the helicopter is also frequently used by the us Environmental Protection agency. Adf has rented it for its research, with funding from Foundation Grants and donations the. Today the environmental list will be getting an impression of the site and be able to view the methane leaks in person. The, the helicopter is scheduled to fly over 60 production sites today in a sequence chosen in consultation with this scientists. The crew focuses on a facility where both gas and oil are being extracted. The gas camera can detect methane with in for read, the bingo. A continuous stream of methane is pouring from the emergency event of one of the tanks, the, the helicopter cru reports define to the ground station. Now the researchers set off the, fortunately, theyre able to get relatively close to the site. Often for holes can only be reached by private roads that are closed off to the public the. This production, well, like the vast majority here, is on man. Nonetheless, adf, researchers keep a safe distance from the rig, so as not to illegally enter the site. The, even from this distance, the special camera should be able to detect the venting gas. The, the, the diagnosis is easy. So at this site were seeing cost and emissions coming from these valves with the top of the tank. So i think what was happening at the site is this equipment over here is the separator, and it separates the oil and gas. And if its working, normally, it will have the oil go to the tanks and the gas go to the pipeline. So it can be sold to customers, but we things happen is th