Comment Log Display

I wanted to make sure you were aware of the new satellite tracking
system being created for detecting methane leaks from space. This
should be in full power by 2024. Donna Davies:

Satellites are catching polluters in the act
By Aaron Clark

Think of them as speed cameras, but for methane. Just like roadside
instruments are used to identify drivers breaking traffic rules,
new powerful satellites are starting to catch oil and gas operators
releasing the planet-warming gas into the atmosphere.

At least two dozen high-resolution satellites are expected to be in
orbit by the end of this year, quietly tracking the super pollutant
that's invisible to the naked eye. Their sensors are able to detect
the natural gas component as it spews from pipelines, unlit flares,
storage tanks and compressor stations around the world. The images
sent back are crystal clear and leave little doubt about who is
responsible for leaks.

Commercial and state interests are driving an acceleration in
satellite launches at a time when fossil fuel companies face
investor pressure to quantify and slash their emissions, and
governments intent on meeting global climate targets seek to
benchmark progress. The satellite missions include public and
private efforts and are poised to deliver climate transparency on a
scale never before seen.

"There's been strong demand for facility-level information on
emissions because it's directly actionable,'' said Daniel Varon, a
postdoctoral researcher studying atmospheric composition and
satellite remote sensing at Harvard University. Varon and peers
published an overview of how high- and low-resolution satellites
are used to track methane last year. 

Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide
during its first two decades in the atmosphere. Halting emissions
of the greenhouse gas could do more to slow climate change in the
near-term than almost any other single measure.

While fines and enforcement vary, companies increasingly face
reputational risks and potential loss of business if their
operations are seen as contributing more than peers to the climate
crisis. In the US, the world's largest oil and gas producer, the
Biden administration is hammering out new rules that would empower
private citizens to police oil wells and gas pipelines for leaks
using information such as satellite data. 

So far this year, at least three high-resolution satellites have
launched, and four more are expected to enter orbit before 2024.
Much of the demand for the data is coming from oil and gas
operators themselves, who are increasingly using the systems to
identify leaks along thousands of miles of pipeline or remote
facilities. GHGSat Inc., a private company that has worked with
operators, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp. and
TotalEnergies SE to detect leaks, made about a million facility
measurements last year and is on track to double that in 2023. 

How methane is detected from space

Satellites observe concentrations of methane from space by
analyzing the way sunlight reflects off the Earth. As light passes
through a cloud of the gas, its intensity is weakened on certain
wavelengths. Methane absorbs light in the short-wave infrared
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Firms, including GHGSat and Carbon Mapper, a non-profit working
with partners including Planet Labs PBC, are launching satellites
designed specifically to detect methane. But much of the new
high-resolution imagery is the result of data processing
innovations that leverage observations from public satellites that
weren't explicitly built to observe the greenhouse gas yet have
spectral bands that include the short-wave infrared.


An illustration of high- and low-resolution satellites that can
detect methane. Courtesy: D.J. Jacob et al.
The methane observations are exposing flaws in decades-old
reporting approaches used by companies and government agencies that
have typically underestimated emissions. In the US, for instance,
methane emissions from oil and gas operations exceeded amounts
reported by the Environmental Protection Agency by 70% between 2010
and 2019, an analysis of satellite data published this month
showed.

The detections are also empowering regulators and the public. New
Mexico officials said in March they were inspecting any methane
plumes detected by NASA and other entities and would use the data
to evaluate reporting and compliance by operators. 

Bloomberg Green has used high-resolution satellite data from EMIT,
Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellites to report on five previously
unreported methane emission events, four of which were in the US.
You can read a short synopsis of what happened here. 

This year could see a wave of new reports on operator leaks, as new
orbitals increase the coverage and frequency of observations. For
operators unable to halt their emissions, that may mean a loss of
credibility, fees or trouble insuring future projects. 

Click here to see recent methane emissions captured via satellite.

Original File Name:

Date and Time Comment Was Submitted: 2023-05-04 14:37:22