Environment Report 2014

ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2014

In 2013, 45,600 tonnes of CH 4 follow the trend in declining emissions.

and 38,000 tonnes of VOCs were emitted from offshore installations. These values

Figure 8: Offshore Emissions of Methane and Volatile Organic Compounds on the UK Continental Shelf from 2000 to 2013

CH₄ Emissions

VOC Emissions

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000

Tonnes

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Source: EEMS June 2014

Methane is the principal component of natural gas although VOCs are also found in natural gas. These gases are released through incomplete combustion and venting during loading and offloading of crude oil from tankers. Emissions of VOCs offshore have halved since 1999 13 as a result of action taken by operators to reduce gas escape and the use of vapour recovery systems, where practical, at offloading facilities.

13 As reported in the OSPAR Quality Status Report 2010 , which is available to download at http://qsr2010.ospar.org/en/index.html

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