BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 2. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is pursuing four key approaches to reduce methane emissions, a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide, playing a crucial role in combating climate change, SOCAR's Deputy Vice President Hikmat Abdullayev said, Trend reports.
He made the remark during a presentation at the seminar titled "Turning Methane Commitments into Action" organized by the International Energy Agency and the COP29 Presidency as part of Baku Climate Action Week.
According to him, the first approach involves identifying and eliminating emission sources, for which SOCAR uses three types of technological solutions; the second is an emissions reduction program; the third involves multilateral partnerships with companies on mitigation programs; and the fourth is the launch of a platform tentatively called 'Methane.AI' for monitoring, managing, and reporting methane emissions.
Abdullayev recalled that at COP28 in December 2023 in Dubai, SOCAR presented its decarbonization action plan and announced its greenhouse gas reduction goals through 2035 and 2050.
"One of our goals is to achieve 0.2 percent methane emission intensity by 2035. To meet these targets, detailed action plans have been developed for each of SOCAR’s assets," the official pointed out.
He emphasized that since January 2024, detailed methane research has been conducted, including the use of drones equipped with sensors (which fly around facilities, detecting methane leaks) and satellite imagery (covering areas of 10–12 square kilometers) with the assistance of UN agencies.
"The data obtained from drones and satellites is studied, after which SOCAR specialists thoroughly inspect all potential methane leak sites," added Abdullayev.
SOCAR has developed a program tentatively named 'Methane.AI, based on artificial intelligence, to consolidate and analyze this data stream.
To note, at COP28 in December 2023, SOCAR signed the Oil and Gas
Decarbonization Charter. In this document, the company
confirmed:
- absence of routine flaring of gas at all operational sites by
2030;
- a 30 percent reduction in carbon intensity of emissions in the
production segment by 2030 compared to 2022 levels;
- a 30 percent reduction in corporate carbon dioxide intensity and
a 20 percent reduction in absolute CO2 emissions by 2035 compared
to 2022 levels;
- a commitment to nearly eliminate methane emissions by 2035 and
achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 70–80,000 foreign guests.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. The COP—the Conference of the Parties—is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin with its secretariat in Bonn.
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