A satellite made to detect and measure methane emissions from agricultural and industrial sources is set to be launched into space next month.
Methane's Role in Global Warming
Since the Industrial Revolution, about 30% of global warming can be attributed to methane. Methane is one of the greenhouse gases contributing the most to global warming, only second to carbon dioxide. According to NASA, this gas traps more heat than carbon dioxide but only lasts 7 to 12 years in the atmosphere. On the other hand, carbon dioxide can last for centuries.
Around 60% of methane emissions come from human activities, such as agriculture, landfills, and fossil fuels. Over the past two centuries, the amount of methane in the Earth's atmosphere has doubled. Since methane does not last long in the atmosphere, reducing greenhouse gas emissions can have an immediate cooling effect.
Agriculture is the largest source of human methane emissions, followed by the oil and gas sector. In 2018, research revealed that the oil and gas supply chain contributes to 60% more methane emissions than the estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency. During the recent COP28 climate summit, oil and gas operators pledged to eliminate methane leaks by 2030. The Biden administration also announced new standards for reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sectors.
Despite these efforts, identifying their sources is the most challenging step in reducing methane emissions. In gaining more insight into this, the missing link is to show the magnitude of emissions and locate where these emissions are coming from.
READ ALSO: Methane Levels in Atmosphere Cite Global Warming as Possible Cause of Its 'Dangerously Fast' Growth
New Watchdog Satellite
A new watchdog will aim to provide the missing link. Known as MethaneSAT, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) develops and supports the space mission. It will orbit the Earth 15 times daily from over 350 miles (563 kilometers) above the surface.
MethaneSAT was designed to track emissions from oil and gas operations around the planet, identifying emissions from significant sources and collecting information from smaller sources. It will also seek to measure emissions from sectors such as agriculture.
The satellite would use New Zealand as a testing ground for checking its accuracy in agri-methane detection. Scientists will compare the satellite's measurements with the data gathered by the New Zealand government.
On February 14, Google announced its plans to combine its AI and infrastructure mapping with the satellite data collected by MethaneSAT to understand the sources of methane emissions better. Just as the company uses AI to identify street signs, road names, and sidewalks in Google Maps, the company will use an image detection algorithm to pinpoint infrastructure like oil containers.
The new collaboration aims to monitor both specific point sources of methane emissions and emission rates. Experts from Harvard University, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory also partnered with EDF and Google to create the algorithms for the satellite.
The data gathered by the watchdog satellite will be publicly available. It is up to the governments and corporations to act on the information to make a significant difference in emissions.
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