Trends in greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from the fugitive emissions subsector have been balanced since 1990. More information on emission trends from the fugitive emissions subsector in Slovakia.
Trends in greenhouse gas emissions
Fugitive emissions in the energy sector represent emissions that occur from unintentional or accidental leaks of gases and vapours during the extraction, processing, transport, storage and distribution of fuels. From both a historical and current perspective, fugitive emissions of greenhouse gases from the handling of fossil fuels – solid, liquid and gaseous – represent a separate, albeit now relatively small, sector of the national emissions balance. In the early 1990s, when fossil fuels were not only intensively consumed in Slovakia, but also extracted, these emissions represented a more significant share of total emissions. Today, however, they account for approximately 1% of national greenhouse emissions due to the closure of deep coal mining, reduced fuel handling, modernisation of distribution systems and stricter technical inspection.
Emissions are divided into four main categories: coal mining – once a significant source of fugitive leaks, that has almost disappeared after the end of underground mining; fuel transformation, especially in the production of coke, which today persists only in a small number of specialised operations; oil – where leaks from the handling of oil products remain stable in the long term and account for only a small share of fugitive emissions; and especially natural gas distribution, which regularly generates more than 90% of all fugitive emissions from fuels due to leaks in pipeline networks, compressor stations and storage facilities.
In recent years, natural gas emissions have been decreasing slightly but steadily due to systematic modernisation of infrastructure, improvement of the technical condition of equipment, emphasis on network inspection and maintenance, and progress in the detection and reporting of technical losses, which has enabled more accurate calculations and their better integration into the national inventory. The overall trend of fugitive fuel emissions is slightly decreasing, with year-on-year fluctuations mainly resulting from updates of emission factors, changes in the availability of input data and revisions of methodological approaches. Although this sector represents a quantitatively small part of the overall emissions balance, its precise monitoring and reporting is essential for the completeness and accuracy of the national emissions balance.
Total greenhouse gas emissions
Trends in air pollutant emissions
Fugitive emissions in the energy sector represent emissions that occur from unintentional or accidental leaks of gases and vapours during the extraction, processing, transport, storage and distribution of fuels. These emissions are a significant source of air pollution. The main categories include emissions from solid fuels and emissions from oil and natural gas.
Emissions from solid fuels include emissions from coal mining and handling, where methane leaks from coal seams during mining and its release during coal handling. This also includes emissions from the transformation of solid fuels, such as emissions from coke production and other coal processing operations. Emissions from oil and natural gas include emissions from exploration and extraction, where natural gas and oil leaks occur during exploratory drilling and extraction. This also includes emissions from the transport of oil and natural gas by pipelines and tankers, emissions from oil refining and storage of oil products, and emissions from the distribution of natural gas from distribution networks and connections.
Fugitive emissions are a significant source of NMVOC emissions. In recent decades, however, a steady decline in these emissions has been observed, estimated at approximately 1-3% per year, due to the modernisation of technologies and equipment in the extraction and processing industries, as well as in distribution networks. Although fugitive emissions are primarily associated with NMVOC emissions, they can also contribute to emissions of other pollutants (e.g., NOX, PM, SOX). For example, handling solid fuels such as coal can lead to the release of dust and fine particles into the air. However, the share of these emissions in total emissions is relatively small, usually below 1%.
Given Slovakia's transit position in the transport of oil and natural gas from Eastern Europe to the European Union, emissions from the transport and distribution of these fuels play a significant role. The share of these emissions in total energy sector emissions is estimated at 10-15% for NMVOCs. Nevertheless, transport and distribution remain a significant source of emissions, especially NMVOCs. At the same time, the closure of mines and the change in the energy mix, especially the reduction in the share of coal, are affecting emissions from the extraction and processing of solid fuels, where the decrease in emissions is more significant, estimated at 5-7% per year.