Iran has successfully implemented the national waste-to-energy project in Kharg Island to curb the associated petroleum gas (APG) or flare gas of the petroleum products in the Persian Gulf oil and gas fields.
According to the portal of Bushehr province Department of Environment. the project has been launched by the cooperation of the Kharg Petrochemical Company (KPC) and Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC).
The project is envisaged to harness and transfer 50 million cubic feet per day of the associate petroleum gas to offshore facilities.
According to reports. the project will reduce the gas flaring in the major Forouzan Oilfield in the Persian Gulf to zero. Close to 6.5 million cubic meters of gas is burnt off in flares in this field every day that will be soon transferred to Kharg Petrochemical Plant and Kharg NGL Plant.
Flaring is the burning of natural gas that cannot be processed or sold. Flaring of APG is an important safety measure at many oil and gas production sites. as it prevents industrial plant equipment from over-pressuring and exploding.
Highlighting the need and significance of zero flaring projects to ensure zero hydrocarbon discharge into the environment. experts say the flaring of gas contributes to climate change and impacts the environment through the emission of carbon dioxide. black carbon and other pollutants.
It also wastes valuable energy resources that can be used for sustainable development in producing countries.
According to a World Bank report. thousands of gas flares at oil production sites around the world burn approximately 140 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. causing more than 300 million tons of carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere.