August 19, 2024
2 min learn
New Satellite tv for pc Will Observe Methane Tremendous Emitters
Tanager-1 is the primary in a collection of satellites that intention to pinpoint main emitters of carbon dioxide and methane, main greenhouse gases
Pure gasoline is flared off throughout an oil drilling operation within the Permian Basin oil discipline on March 12, 2022 in Midland, Texas.
CLIMATEWIRE | A brand new satellite tv for pc that may pinpoint greenhouse gasoline tremendous emitters took off from California on Friday, including one other instrument to world efforts to deal with 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 gasoline that’s 80 instances simpler than CO2 at trapping warmth within the environment. It was deployed via a coalition involving Carbon Mapper, Planet Labs and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with funding from teams resembling Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Youngsters’s Funding Fund Basis.
The satellite tv for pc will deal with services that spew out greater than 100 kilograms of methane an hour and can assist determine the supply of these emissions, resembling a pipeline leak or flare from an influence plant, in accordance with Carbon Mapper. It’s the primary of many such satellites the nonprofit hopes to launch, with plans to make the ensuing knowledge publicly out there on-line.
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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, resembling a complete oil and gasoline basin.
Riley Duren, Carbon Mapper’s co-founder and chief government, in contrast Tanager-1 to a telephoto lens that’s designed to zoom in and determine the origin of emissions inside 100 toes, making it simpler to see tremendous emitters which 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 nations see chopping energy-related methane emissions as among the many quickest methods to stop world temperatures from rising. Whereas methane is stronger than carbon dioxide, it stays within the environment for a shorter time.
Greater than 150 nations have signed onto a pledge to collectively cut back methane emissions by 30 p.c by 2030 and dozens of main oil and gasoline companies agreed ultimately 12 months’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 latest truth sheet outlining authorities help for motion to curb local weather tremendous pollution.
The Tanager-1 satellite tv for pc will prioritize areas the place methane emissions are identified to happen, resembling oil and gasoline fields, refineries and landfills. Carbon Mapper says that info can assist firms determine and patch leaks and assist nations select pure gasoline imports from suppliers with the bottom emissions.
The nonprofit additionally sees its position 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 supplies important information for power and atmosphere professionals.
