How oil giants conceal gas flaring from satellite detection

Scientists and researchers told The Colonist Report that enclosed flares are not showing up on satellite data.

By Tom Brown, Christina Last

May 2, 2024. 11:21 am

Satellite images have shown what looks like oil and gas equipment is preventing scientists from detecting greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Norway are suspected to have installed oil and gas technology that could prevent scientists from detecting methane, CO2 emissions, and pollutants at industrial facilities involved in the disposal of unprofitable natural gas, a process known as flaring.

Satellites that orbit the Earth at night are used by scientists and policymakers to monitor flares. The satellites identify bright spots on the earth, which are then compared with high-temperature readings. Flares are among the hottest objects on Earth, sometimes even burning hotter than volcanoes.

But oil and gas companies have begun installing enclosed flares at their facilities. Scientists and researchers told The Colonist Report that enclosed flares are not showing up on satellite data.

The only system in place for detecting flaring globally is the Visual and Infrared Radiometer Suite of detectors (VIIRS), a group of instruments mounted on satellites. By comparing heat signatures with bright spots of light visible from space, it locates flares; however, our investigation, which included a review of the VIIRS database, could not identify the enclosed flares.

Enclosed flares function similarly to open-lit flares, with the exception that the flame is concealed from view, according to industry experts.

When an energy company burns gas it cannot sell or capture economically, it flares by shooting flames from a metal tower. Flares release CO2 and toxic pollutants, but some countries prefer them to vent, which releases 90% methane-rich natural gas directly into the atmosphere, worsening climate change.

Policymakers are encouraging fossil fuel companies to reduce or eliminate flaring by capturing the gas and selling or reusing it to avoid wasting energy. Every year, flaring emits more greenhouse gases than the aviation industry and wastes enough energy to power Central and South America.

The World Bank, which relies on satellite data for its annual Global Gas Flaring Report, established the Zero Routine Flaring 2030 initiative to eliminate unnecessary flaring, and its most recent report stated that global flaring decreased by 3% from 2021 to 2022.

Suspected Covering flares

“Enclosed combustors are basically a flare with an internal flare tip that you don’t see,” said Tim Doty, President of TCHD Consulting, a consultancy service which helps train oil and gas workers and non-profits, and a former regulator for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. “Enclosed flaring is still flaring. It’s just different infrastructure that they’re allowing. Enclosed flaring is, in truth, probably less efficient than a typical flare. It’s better than venting, but going from a flare to an enclosed flare or a vapour combustor is not an improvement in reducing emissions.”

Since the World Bank Zero Routine Flaring initiative, “enclosed flares” have been appearing in the UK, the US and Germany, among other countries that signed a commitment to prevent flaring.

Eric Kort, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, stated that “the VIIRS satellite database is still the standard product that people use globally. “It is the best and most consistent product we currently have.” Kort, whose previous research showed that gas flares in the Permian basin across Texas were releasing more methane than previously thought, stated that when a flare is enclosed, “people do not see it, so they do not complain about it.”

Enclosed flares also burn at lower temperatures than open-lit flares, making it more difficult for researchers using satellite data to detect them. Without satellite data, countries are forced to rely on primarily self-disclosed data from oil and gas companies. Environmentalists fear that the research community’s ability to understand pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector could be jeopardised.

In 2020, Colorado, US, declared that routine flaring would no longer be permitted, although enclosed flares would still be permitted. Residents reported, and Google Earth images confirmed that enclosed flares began to replace those with visible flames.

Google Earth images of one site in Jackson County, Colorado, show a lit flame disappearing between 2019 and 2020 and being replaced with a device that closely resembles the enclosed flares seen on oil and gas equipment websites just before the ban went into effect.

Fulcrum Energy, a Colorado-based oil and gas producer, stated that it has eliminated 100% of emissions at the site and that flaring has been completely eliminated from its facilities since this year. In an email, the company stated that the enclosed flaring device met the regulation.

Sharon Wilson, the leader of Oilfield Witness, a non-governmental organisation that uses optical-gas imaging footage to document emissions across the United States, told The Colonist Report that she visited the Fulcrum facility while working at the NGO Earthworks and filmed the enclosed flare.

Wilson stated that she captured the enclosed flare using an optical gas-imaging camera, which is the same device used by oil and gas companies to detect methane leaks in their facilities. The video shows emissions coming from the device, which experts believe indicates that flaring is still occurring inside.

Wilson said: “Colorado says, and some NGOs agree, that they no longer allow routine flaring but that’s not accurate.

“Enclosed flares have a low to the ground flame and the whole thing is enclosed in a metal tube so neighbours and satellites don’t see the flame. If lit, we often find these enclosed flares polluting with long plumes of partially combusted methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and we also find them unlit and releasing uncombusted methane.”

Methane and CO2 plumes emitted by enclosed flaring devices in New Mexico’s four corners region were captured using satellite data from CarbonMapper, which provides publicly available greenhouse gas data.

Companies that sell enclosed flares, such as Fox Thermal, often refer to them as “enclosed combustion devices” and list “flame hidden,” “low profile,” and “fewer public complaints” in their product descriptions. Zeeco, another vendor, lists “low noise” and “no visible emissions” in the product descriptions on its website. When asked for a comment, neither Fox Thermal nor Zeeco responded to our questions. Zeeco has received $37,700 in US government contracts, according to government spending records.

More evidence

An employee working for MRW Technologies, an Oklahoma-based company that sells enclosed flaring devices, said in a telephone interview that energy companies buying its enclosed flares were doing so to shield the flame from view, but said they were not aware of any potential impact on a satellite’s ability to detect the flaring. Spending records show that MRW Technologies acquired a $153,590 loan from the US government during the Covid-19 pandemic through the United States Small Business Administration programme.

Equipment suppliers such as Cimarron Energy claim that enclosed flares are better for the environment than open-lit flares, and some researchers we spoke with agree, because the flame, which must be lit in order for the methane to be burned away, is frequently blown out by strong winds. The World Bank said while responding to our request for comment that they were also better for reducing ozone emissions in some cases.

The European Union announced in November 2023 that it would phase out routine flaring as part of new legislation aimed at addressing methane emissions. The legislation is expected to become EU law sometime in 2024, and if the legislation passes in the Council without amendment, it will come into effect on January 1, 2025, provided the European Parliament approves a vote on the provisional agreement on April 11th.

However, enclosed flares have started to appear in the EU, and data from websites of suppliers of gas and oil equipment indicates that the devices are being sold in several member states.

Satellite imagery captures what seem to be enclosed flares at the Ineos Rafnes refinery in Norway and the Ineos Grangemouth refinery in Scotland. Similarly, Airbus imagery reveals devices at the steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal in Germany that resemble enclosed flares.

The EU’s legislation on methane emissions would ban routine flaring outright but still allow flaring in emergency situations. It was not immediately clear how the EU will determine whether the flaring taking place inside enclosed flares is routine or for emergency situations.

A spokesperson for Ineos, the energy company with enclosed flares operating in Norway and the UK, said that “a circular enclosure” around the flare “leads to significantly less noise being emitted and much lower luminosity,” adding that it was “important for communities living and working close to our sites”. The spokesperson said that Ineos had successfully reduced flaring at its facilities.

The German company, ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steel manufacturers, which produces gas through its coking plants, confirmed in an email to The Colonist Report that the device appearing at its facilities was an enclosed flaring device, saying that “there were questions from the neighbourhood as to why flaring was necessary, which were explained as part of a responsible approach to the residents. We installed an enclosed flaring device as a precautionary measure so that the flare is not visible from a distance if gas had to be flared at night.”

ArcelorMittal’s spokesperson stated that the flare was used “solely as a safety device, in rare emergency situations.” According to ArcelorMittal, two-thirds of the gas is transported to customers who buy it, with flaring occurring when the pipeline is closed for operational reasons. The device has “no measurable emissions” and a “100%” combustion rate.

According to the World Bank, flares should burn at around 98% efficiency, with only 2% of natural gas escaping as methane emissions. However, many sites are not properly maintained, and systems designed to alert energy companies when a flare has gone out frequently fail, directly emitting methane, according to Dotty, who worked for the Texas regulator for years and dealt with polluting energy firms.

A 2022 study led by Kort at the University of Michigan discovered that flares were only 91% efficient and were emitting five times as much methane as previously thought.

Manufacturers of enclosed flares, also known as “combustors” in the industry, typically claim a 99% efficiency rate, making them the most efficient in the sector. However many supplier websites include a disclaimer about the burn rate, stating that “test conditions would differ from actual field operations.” Experts like Dotty claim that enclosed flares rarely, if ever, work properly, leaving regulators in the dark about how much methane the devices are emitting.

Matthew Johnson, head of the Energy & Emissions Research Lab at Carleton University in Canada said: “A lot of these [enclosed flare] designs are basically cans, and so if a plane was overtop, you can just look down, and see if it’s lit or not.

“These flames are small and unlikely to be seen from VIIRS. Very rarely you will get a combustor that’s emitting detectable methane but still seems to have flame in it, again, suggesting they’re not perfect. However, an enclosed combustor is surely better than an open flare in terms of methane emissions, and an important interim tool for achieving the aggressive methane reductions we need by 2030.”

Our interviews with sources suggest that some researchers and regulators prioritise methane reduction over reducing flaring. Although flares produce CO2 and pollutants when they are working properly, unlit flares emit methane, which has 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere.

Policymakers have become increasingly concerned about methane, which is responsible for approximately 30 percent of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution. After the 2015 Paris Agreement, where most UN nations pledged to keep global surface temperatures below 2 °C, major polluters pledged to reduce methane emissions, most of which come from oil and gas operations.

The International Energy Agency calculated that 120 million metric tonnes of methane emissions were in the earth’s atmosphere in 2023, an all-time high, adding pressure on policymakers to take action on methane emissions.

Methane emissions are hoped to become more easily detectable following the successfully launch of MethaneSAT in March, a new satellite designed by the Environmental Defense Fund to target methane emissions from space. CarbonMapper is also planning to launch its own methane-detection satellite in the summer of 2024, along with several more in the coming years.

“Even if you have 98-99% combustion, pollution and waste of gas is happening, however, what scientists have found is evidence that flares are often unlit (and emitting) or performing poorly,” said Daniel Zavala-Araiza, senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund.

According to Zavala-Araiza, there are datasets like VIIRS following flaring volumes, “but that never paints the whole picture.” But with tools like MethaneSAT, “we’ll be able to combine the data products to have a complete understanding of emissions, including unlit flares,” he said.

Canada’s mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Johnson noted that methane detection methods are evolving beyond satellite observation, such as low-cost fly-overs from Bridger Photonics, an ARPA-E company that can detect methane sources 1000 times smaller than satellites. However, not all countries have the specialised technology.

“I would be happy to see an increase in flaring (or, better yet, an increase in combustors) if it resulted in less venting. In other words, reducing methane emissions is the most pressing concern,” Johnson stated. “Beyond 2030, of course, we need to eliminate combustors, flares, and everything else as part of transitioning to a net-zero emissions world, but realistically, we have a methane crisis that requires much more immediate action if we are to keep global temperature rise below two degrees.”

Flares, when functioning properly, burn methane that would otherwise enter the atmosphere, but they also cause cancer, lung disease, and premature birth, potentially harming people 60 miles away, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Public Economics. Countries often face a choice between climate goals and public health when deciding how to deal with gas flaring.

“The focus on flare volumes from VIIRS may have had the unintended consequence of driving operators in some regions to purposely allow flares to remain unlit so as not to be detected, leading to far worse methane emissions,” Johnson concluded. “We see this in the surprising prevalence of unlit flares showing up in aerial measurement studies.”

The World Bank, which began the Zero Routine Flaring initiative, has more recently put focus on its newly announced Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership. Zubin Bamji, the programmes manager, told The Colonist Report that volumes from enclosed flares “are very small and are unlikely to have a significant impact on flare volume estimates at a regional, country or global level,” but confirmed that VIIRS did not classify enclosed flaring devices as flares.

Editing by Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Woke Kevin

This article was supported by a grant from the EU Journalism Fund’s Earth Investigations Programme and the Fund for Investigative Journalism. The Arena Climate Network also supported the investigation.

Authors

Tom Brown is an environmental journalist freelancing for Al Jazeera, The Guardian and New Lines Magazine. His investigations into oil and gas pollution in Africa and the Middle East won the runner-up Fetisov Journalism Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism, NASA’s Data Visualisation Award, as well as grant awards from the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the European Journalism Centre. He published his debut novel, The Oblivious Pool, with Austin Macauley Publishers in 2022.

Christina Last is a Postgraduate Researcher at MIT using AI to understand climatic impacts on our built environment. She has collaborated with a number of city governments and international organisations as a Research Engineer at Carnegie Mellon University and The Alan Turing Institute, (the UK’s National Institute for AI), where she built machine learning techniques examining the human impact of the industrial revolution. She has led various international research projects using cutting-edge machine learning to solve humanitarian challenges, most recently as the founder of a UN backed startup predicting air pollution with satellite data.