Safety comes first
Flaring takes place for two main reasons. As a safety measure during failures and during major maintenance work. Storing the gases temporarily is not feasible, according to the firms. They do not burn them to recover energy either.
For safety reasons, pressure build-up must be avoided at all costs. When the emergency procedure is triggered in the event of a failure, the flares fire into action to release the gases in a controlled manner. That means the gases do not end up in the atmosphere unburned. Gases that do not meet 100% quality standards are also flared.
A flare flame can be as high as 50 metres; a flare chimney 150 metres tall. That height serves to protect both people and nature at ground level from the immense heat.
