據世界石油2020年7月21日華盛頓報道，根據世界銀行，來自衛星數據的估計數字顯示，全球去年天然氣放空燒掉量增加到了過去10多年來沒有看到的水平，達到了1500億立方米，相當于撒哈拉以南非洲地區的天然氣年消費總量。

天然氣放空燒掉——即放空燒掉在開采石油時伴生的天然氣——是由于技術、監管和/或經濟方面的限制而發生的。天然氣放空燒掉量每年造成相當于4億噸二氧化碳的排放，并浪費一種寶貴的資源，未燃燒的甲烷和黑碳排放對環境造成有害影響。

世界銀行能源與開采全球業務部門業務經理克里斯托弗·謝爾登說：“我們的數據表明，天然氣放空燒掉仍是一個持續存在的問題，在某些國家里，解決方案仍然很困難，或者不經濟。當前的COVID-19大流行和危機帶來了額外的挑戰，可持續發展和氣候憂慮可能被邊緣化。我們必須扭轉這一令人擔憂的趨勢，一勞永逸地結束常規天然氣放空燒掉。”

全球前4大天然氣放空燒掉的國家連續3年(2017-2019年)繼續占全球天然氣放空燒掉量的近一半(45%)。在所有產油國中，除前4個國家外，天然氣放空燒掉量從2012年到2019年下降了90億立方米(或10%)。今年第一季度，全球天然氣放空燒掉量下降了10%，在全球30個天然氣放空燒掉量最大的國家中大多數都出現了下降。

李峻 編譯自 世界石油

原文如下：

World Bank: Global gas flaring at its highest since 2009

According to the World Bank, estimates from satellite data show global gas flaring increased to levels not seen in more than a decade, to 150 billion cubic meters, equivalent to the total annual gas consumption of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Gas flaring, the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction, takes place because of technical, regulatory, and/or economic constraints. It results in more than 400 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions every year and wastes a valuable resource, with harmful impacts to the environment from un-combusted methane and black carbon emissions.

“Our data suggests that gas flaring continues to be a persistent problem, with solutions remaining difficult or uneconomic in certain countries,” said Christopher Sheldon, Practice Manager in the Energy & Extractives Global Practice, World Bank. “The current COVID-19 pandemic and crisis brings additional challenges, with sustainability and climate concerns potentially sidelined. We must reverse this worrying trend and end routine gas flaring once and for all.”

The top four gas flaring countries continue to account for almost half (45%) of all global gas flaring, for three years running (2017-2019). When looking at all oil-producing countries, excluding the top four, gas flaring declined by 9 bcm (or 10%) from 2012 to 2019. In the first quarter of 2020, global gas flaring fell by 10%, with declines across most of the top 30 gas flaring countries.