Baku, Azerbaijan, May 1
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
On May 7-8, Baku will host a meeting of the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR), initiated by the World Bank (WB), the local office of the World Bank told Trend May 1.
The representative office noted that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the accession of the Azerbaijani state-run company SOCAR to this initiative. In this regard, it was decided to hold an event in Azerbaijan.
The participants of the Baku meeting will discuss the elimination of barriers impeding the reduction of gas flaring through the use of international experience and the implementation of special country programs, the experience of SOCAR in this area, and other issues.
GGFR assists governments and oil companies in their efforts to reduce the flaring and dispersion of gas in fields around the world, including Europe and Central Asia (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). As previously reported by the World Bank, these countries have approximately the same conditions and experience similar problems in the reduction of associated gas flaring.
In 2017, SOCAR reduced gas emissions under its projects to 5.891 million tons. Since 2010, harmful emissions have been reduced by 45 percent.
According to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Azerbaijan's emissions total 51 million tons per year, which is about 30 percent lower than in 1990. Azerbaijan hopes to reduce this figure by another 35 percent by 2030 as a contribution to global efforts against climate change.
Experts say 140 billion cubic meters of associated gas are flared annually at oil fields around the world, resulting in emission into the atmosphere of more than 300 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to exhaust emissions from about 77 million cars.
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