Monitoring methane emissions from space

In this podcast, the second of our Talking Transition series, Daniel, Stephane and Dr Kleinberg discuss monitoring methane emissions with satellites, what’s currently possible and what this technology holds for future emissions reduction.

Dr Kleinberg kicks off by sharing some insights from a recent Columbia paper, entitled Nowhere to Hide: Implications for Policy, Industry, and Finance of Satellite-Based Methane Detection. He highlights why satellites are a unique way of detecting methane – they go everywhere all the time. Methane emissions are a global problem and with satellite technology, it is possible to measure these on a global scale. He reviews a couple of satellite systems and outlines how this data can be used by governments, international agencies, NGOs, companies and investors to monitor emissions and make informed decisions based on this data.

GHGSat Founder and CEO Stephane Germain explains how its satellite systems fit into this technology mix, with its spot measurements, which capture approximately 12km by 12km photos of any given point on the earth’s surface. The differentiating factor of GHGSat’s satellites is super high resolution that can look for facility level industrial emissions – it can monitor these with 100x higher resolution and can detect leaks 100 times smaller than other satellites. To improve data availability, GHGSat has recently published a global map of methane concentrations called Pulse , which provides a global view of methane on a 2 km by 2 km grid scale which is updated every week and is available for free.

Listen to the full podcast to hear more about the achievements of current satellite technology and the potential for future innovation to reduce methane emissions at the scale needed to meet the aims of the Paris Agreement.