Russia
Is Russia burning away huge amounts of gas?
London/UNI: As per an independent analysis, Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas that could cause irreparable damage to Arctic ice, a media report indicates.
According to the analysis shared with BBC News, Rystad Energy has studied that around 4.34 million cubic metres of gas are being burned by the flare every day.
Experts say the gas would previously have been exported to Germany.
A plant near the border with Finland is burning an estimated $10 million worth of gas every day.
Scientists are concerned about the large volumes of carbon dioxide and soot it is creating, which could exacerbate the melting of Arctic ice.
The flares are coming from a new liquified natural gas (LNG) plant at Portovaya, north-west of St Petersburg.
Finnish citizens near the border were the first to spot the large flame a few months back.
Portovaya is located close to a compressor station at the start of the Nordstream 1 pipeline which carries gas under the sea to Germany, the BBC report said.
Supplies through the pipeline have been curtailed since mid-July, months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But since June, researchers have noted a significant increase in heat emanating from the facility - thought to be from gas flaring, the burning of natural gas.
Burning off gas though is common at processing plants - normally done for technical or safety reasons, the report added.
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