>TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, the two largest petrochemical companies in the port of Antwerp, routinely flare more than 11,000 tons of gas every year. This combustion releases the equivalent of the annual CO₂ emissions of more than 8,700 Belgian families. Routine flaring is prohibited by law, but companies have been able to enforce exceptions for years. This way they always buy time to tackle the problem.
>themselves state TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil that when flaring thousands of tons of hydrocarbons such as methane and propane, they remain within the limits of Flemish regulations, and therefore only for safety reasons or for maintenance of the installations. Documents from the Flemish Department Environment and internal company documents that Apache could view undermine that claim:
>”It cannot be stated that flaring at TEOA ( TotalEnergies Olefins Antwerp, ed. ) is only used for safety reasons or in non-routine operating conditions (…) Approximately 50% of the flare emissions are due to the ‘ base load ‘ or therefore a basic quantity that is always flared.”
>Fire in the harbour
>Wednesday evening, November 29, 2023. The telephone of the Zeeland Safety Region control room is ringing off the hook. Worried Dutch people are reporting a fierce fire on the other side of the national border. The unrest turns out to be unnecessary: the ‘fire’ is nothing more than the brightly lit red torch of chemical company BASF .
>A few months earlier it was Antwerp’s turn. That time it concerned TotalEnergies Olefins Antwerp , which reported increased flaring activity following the restart of its installations in the port on the northern edge of the city. In a press release, the petrochemical company warned of bright, clearly visible flames and the associated noise pollution.
>Apparently no one in Flanders keeps track of the causes of flaring incidents in a structural manner, even though they cause significant odor, light and noise nuisance.
>It often ‘burns’ in the port of Antwerp. Day in and day out, to be precise. This does not always involve spectacular flames, sometimes tens of meters high, and the raging noise that accompanies them. However, the ‘pilot light’ is always burning. This, the petrochemical companies argue, is necessary for safety reasons. If something goes wrong due to some technical problem and an overdose of gas accumulates, it must be able to be flared off very quickly.
>Such situations do not arise very often. The companies must also report incidents to the Department of the Environment. In the period from 2020 to mid-2023, around eighty reports were reported annually in the port of Antwerp. The majority of this is accounted for by TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, the other remaining petrochemical giant in the port of Antwerp.
>Asked about this by Apache, the Environment Department states that it lacks the necessary manpower to screen all documents about the flaring incidents – about three hundred for the entire period – in search of the precise cause of the flaring.
>The Flemish government can provide the number of incidents per company. But apparently no one in Flanders keeps track of the causes of the flaring incidents in a structural manner. However, in addition to significant odor, light and noise pollution, they also cause significant emissions of CO₂ and pollutants.
all corrupt. all in bed with each other.
Especially methane is dangerous. Methane is 28 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than co2. Flaring natural gas is bad but releasing it pure wich these 2 companies do is even worse.
And its even worse in countries like russia. But yeah shut down nuclear power and replace it with even more fossil fuels for the enviroment!
Thank you liberal and right-wing parties (and people voting for them).
4 comments
>TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, the two largest petrochemical companies in the port of Antwerp, routinely flare more than 11,000 tons of gas every year. This combustion releases the equivalent of the annual CO₂ emissions of more than 8,700 Belgian families. Routine flaring is prohibited by law, but companies have been able to enforce exceptions for years. This way they always buy time to tackle the problem.
>themselves state TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil that when flaring thousands of tons of hydrocarbons such as methane and propane, they remain within the limits of Flemish regulations, and therefore only for safety reasons or for maintenance of the installations. Documents from the Flemish Department Environment and internal company documents that Apache could view undermine that claim:
>”It cannot be stated that flaring at TEOA ( TotalEnergies Olefins Antwerp, ed. ) is only used for safety reasons or in non-routine operating conditions (…) Approximately 50% of the flare emissions are due to the ‘ base load ‘ or therefore a basic quantity that is always flared.”
>Fire in the harbour
>Wednesday evening, November 29, 2023. The telephone of the Zeeland Safety Region control room is ringing off the hook. Worried Dutch people are reporting a fierce fire on the other side of the national border. The unrest turns out to be unnecessary: the ‘fire’ is nothing more than the brightly lit red torch of chemical company BASF .
>A few months earlier it was Antwerp’s turn. That time it concerned TotalEnergies Olefins Antwerp , which reported increased flaring activity following the restart of its installations in the port on the northern edge of the city. In a press release, the petrochemical company warned of bright, clearly visible flames and the associated noise pollution.
>Apparently no one in Flanders keeps track of the causes of flaring incidents in a structural manner, even though they cause significant odor, light and noise nuisance.
>It often ‘burns’ in the port of Antwerp. Day in and day out, to be precise. This does not always involve spectacular flames, sometimes tens of meters high, and the raging noise that accompanies them. However, the ‘pilot light’ is always burning. This, the petrochemical companies argue, is necessary for safety reasons. If something goes wrong due to some technical problem and an overdose of gas accumulates, it must be able to be flared off very quickly.
>Such situations do not arise very often. The companies must also report incidents to the Department of the Environment. In the period from 2020 to mid-2023, around eighty reports were reported annually in the port of Antwerp. The majority of this is accounted for by TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, the other remaining petrochemical giant in the port of Antwerp.
>Asked about this by Apache, the Environment Department states that it lacks the necessary manpower to screen all documents about the flaring incidents – about three hundred for the entire period – in search of the precise cause of the flaring.
>The Flemish government can provide the number of incidents per company. But apparently no one in Flanders keeps track of the causes of the flaring incidents in a structural manner. However, in addition to significant odor, light and noise pollution, they also cause significant emissions of CO₂ and pollutants.
all corrupt. all in bed with each other.
Especially methane is dangerous. Methane is 28 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than co2. Flaring natural gas is bad but releasing it pure wich these 2 companies do is even worse.
And its even worse in countries like russia. But yeah shut down nuclear power and replace it with even more fossil fuels for the enviroment!
Thank you liberal and right-wing parties (and people voting for them).