Press release from Companies
Publicerat: 2024-09-03 16:03:21
New research conducted by Chalmers Technical University in Gothenburg show that emissions of methane are considerably larger than what can expected from normal decomposition of biological material.
The Siljan Ring in Dalarna, Sweden, is the result of a meteor impact that occurred 377 million years ago and has a diameter of 100 km. Lakes Siljan, Orsasjön, and Oresjön are all situated within this crater.
Methane emission measurements have been carried out on these lakes using specialized equipment, such as trace gas measurement and floating chamber techniques. The study was conducted by Professor Johan Mellqvist and Dr. Vladimir Conde, both of whom are affiliated with the Department of Space, Earth, and Environment at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg.
Methane is often formed at the bottom of lakes where there are large amounts of biological waste materials in the form of sediment, combined with stagnant water, typically resulting in non-distinct leakage of smaller amounts of methane. According to Mellqvist, what makes the findings at the Siljan Ring unusual is the discovery of distinct spots with significant emissions, resulting in large plumes of methane released into the air. This occurs despite the absence of sediment on the seabed and the presence of moving water.
It is therefore reasonable to assume that the methane does not originate from the lake itself but has been formed beneath it, possibly as a result of bacterial activity deep within the Earth, as suggested in other studies.
More research is needed to understand the complete size of emissions and the possible impact they may have on climate change, but there is no doubt that the lakes in the Siljan Ring area are different in this respect from other lakes in Sweden.
The results can be found in the report “Mätning av naturliga metanläckage från sjöar i Siljansringen” (”Measurements of natural methane emissions from lakes in the Siljan Ring area”).
Mats Budh, CEO of Igrene, comments:
Contact person:
Mats Budh, mats.budh@igrene.se +46 706 50 62 26
About Igrene:
AB Igrene has previously explored for hydrocarbons in the Siljan Ring area. The Company is listed on the Spotlight Stockmarket exchange and has some 3 000 shareholders. Igrene has discovered natural gas in several places around Lake Siljan. A large number of exploratory wells have been drilled, and in several of these wells powerful flows of very pure methane have been found. These wells have been temporarily sealed off. The Company aims to convert the methane in these wells into carbon and hydrogen without generation of carbon dioxide using a pyrolytic technology developed by Norwegian company SEID AS (ColdSpark®).
See also: www.igrene.se, www.seid.no
[1] Swedish Environmental Protection Agency: ”Methane (CH4) is a much more potent green house gas than carbon dioxide (CO2) in the short term, but in the atmosphere, it is dissolved more quickly. Seen over a 100 year period, CH4 is 28 times more potent than CO2. But over a shorter time period, the effect is much greater.”