August 19, 2024
2 min learn
New Satellite tv for pc Will Observe Methane Tremendous Emitters
Tanager-1 is the primary in a sequence of satellites that intention to pinpoint main emitters of carbon dioxide and methane, main greenhouse gases
Pure fuel is flared off throughout an oil drilling operation within the Permian Basin oil subject on March 12, 2022 in Midland, Texas.
CLIMATEWIRE | A brand new satellite tv for pc that may pinpoint greenhouse fuel tremendous emitters took off from California on Friday, including one other software to world efforts to sort out the drivers of world warming.
Tanager-1, which launched alongside SpaceX’s Transporter 11, can detect main emitters of carbon dioxide and methane, a extremely potent fuel that’s 80 occasions simpler than CO2 at trapping warmth within the ambiance. It was deployed by means of a coalition involving Carbon Mapper, Planet Labs and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with funding from teams equivalent to Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Kids’s Funding Fund Basis.
The satellite tv for pc will concentrate on amenities that spew out greater than 100 kilograms of methane an hour and can assist establish the supply of these emissions, equivalent to a pipeline leak or flare from an influence plant, based on Carbon Mapper. It’s the primary of many such satellites the nonprofit hopes to launch, with plans to make the ensuing knowledge publicly obtainable on-line.
On supporting science journalism
Should you’re having fun with this text, contemplate supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By buying a subscription you might be serving to to make sure the way forward for impactful tales concerning the discoveries and concepts shaping our world right this moment.
Tanager-1 is seen as a complement to MethaneSAT, a satellite tv for pc supported by the Environmental Protection Fund and Google that helps find and quantify emissions at a wider scale, equivalent to a whole oil and fuel basin.
Riley Duren, Carbon Mapper’s co-founder and chief govt, in contrast Tanager-1 to a telephoto lens that’s designed to zoom in and establish the origin of emissions inside 100 toes, making it simpler to see tremendous emitters that may go undetected.
“Super-emitters are potential low hanging fruit for action,” Duren mentioned. “There’s a relatively small number of them. And if you know where they are, you can detect them and you can notify facility operators and notify the regulators — and particularly in cases where there are malfunctions, then there’s the potential to take action.”
Many international locations see reducing energy-related methane emissions as among the many quickest methods to forestall world temperatures from rising. Whereas methane is stronger than carbon dioxide, it stays within the ambiance for a shorter time.
Greater than 150 international locations have signed onto a pledge to collectively scale back methane emissions by 30 p.c by 2030 and dozens of main oil and fuel firms agreed eventually yr’s COP28 local weather talks to almost zero out methane emissions by 2030 and finish routine flaring.
The White Home included Carbon Mapper’s satellite tv for pc plans in a current truth sheet outlining authorities assist for motion to curb local weather tremendous pollution.
The Tanager-1 satellite tv for pc will prioritize areas the place methane emissions are recognized to happen, equivalent to oil and fuel fields, refineries and landfills. Carbon Mapper says that info can assist corporations establish and patch leaks and assist international locations select pure fuel imports from suppliers with the bottom emissions.
The nonprofit additionally sees its function as a watchdog, permitting researchers, regulators and inexperienced teams to find out whether or not industries live as much as their emission discount commitments.
“By improving confidence in the actual methane leakage rates or intensities of global supply chains, we can put pressure on oil and gas producing countries to reduce their methane footprint,” Duren mentioned.
Reprinted from E&E Information with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2024. E&E Information offers important information for power and atmosphere professionals.
