Gas Flaring and You
Gas flaring is a major issue both in Canada and abroad. An article in the Georgia Straight in 2008 reported that the B.C. sector of this industry flares, or needlessly burns off, about
960 million cubic metres of natural gas every year - enough to heat more than 300,000 Canadian homes annually. To put that in perspective, there are about 38,000 homes in all of northern BC.
Worldwide, some 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas are flared or vented annually, according to the World Bank. The 35 billion cubic meters flared annually in Sub-Saharan Africa alone could generate half of that continent's power consumption. Instead, as One Sky has frequently witnessed in Nigeria, gas flaring occurs alongside subsistence communities that are forced to degrade their natural surroundings in their search for biofuels.
How can you get involved? First of all, find out more by following some of the links below.
Articles from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Environmental Rights Action (Friends of the Earth Nigeria)
Backgrounder on gas flaring in Nigeria from Friends of the Earth UK
Then sign the petition from Friends of the Earth International
and keep an eye on the One Sky site for updates from the international press and on our preparations leading up to the Rio +20 Earth Summit in 2012.
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