6 Comments
Dec 3, 2023Liked by Melanie Newfield

Thanks Melanie.

Great perspective.

Cheers, Donald

Expand full comment
author

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Expand full comment
Dec 3, 2023Liked by Melanie Newfield

Excellent article and appreciate it’s not all about the solutions but I did want to share this recompression technology is being used routinely in Nz (as of recently) https://getzevac.com

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, that's good to see. This kind of solution seems like such a no-brainer.

Expand full comment

Melanie -- You sure manage to explore a broad range of topics around climate! I have about 30 stories in draft that will never quite make it to my published Substack now including one that was a little bit about fossil fuel flaring so I found this VERY INTERESTING. Methane is so ubiquitous in most every fossil fuel operation and so explosive! Venting is the default and safe operation in many cases unfortunately. I think of the humorous example of ruminants (cattle and sheep) as they produce almost as much free methane as fossil operations!!! At least in the States, many of us heat our homes with forced air and natural gas (another name for methane). Building codes have evolved in the last decade with different venting standards for greater efficiency in the burn. While it is not every year, it seems we still get an occasional local news story about poorly vented and installed gas water heaters that explode. The homes are often a total loss as the captive energy is enormous. If you are interested NASA has satellite resources that allow easy visualization of flaring around the world.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Mark. I did wonder how much I would find to write about at some point, but there's just so much there and it's all so interesting (if sometimes depressing).

Agricultural methane emissions are the big issue in New Zealand - most of our methane comes from cows. There's a lot of angst in New Zealand about agricultural methane. But methane from fossil fuels is a double hit for the climate because it increases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well. So it should absolutely be the priority.

I think it might be the NASA data that caught out the Emiratis, showing that they had flares operating every day. They've got some interesting stuff about Nigeria too, which is pretty awful.

Expand full comment