A satellite about the size of a washing machine plans to expose and criticize the leading methane polluters in the oil and gas sector.

On Monday at 2pm, MethaneSat will be launched from California aboard a SpaceX rocket. This satellite will offer a comprehensive look at methane leaks from the oil and gas industry on a global scale and all information collected will be publicly available. It will also capture high-quality data over larger regions compared to current satellites.

Methane, also called natural gas, is responsible for 30% of the global heating driving the climate crisis. Leaks from the fossil fuel industry are a major source of human-caused emissions and stemming these is the fastest single way to curb temperature rises.

MethaneSat was developed by the Environmental Defense Fund, a US NGO, in partnership with the New Zealand Space Agency and cost $88m to build and launch. Earlier EDF measurements from planes show methane emissions were 60% higher than calculated estimates published by US authorities and elsewhere.

Over 150 nations have committed to a worldwide agreement to reduce their methane output by 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. A number of oil and gas corporations have also made comparable promises, and there are ongoing efforts to establish regulations to control methane leaks in the United States, European Union, Japan, and South Korea.

Mark Brownstein, the senior VP of EDF, stated that MethaneSat serves as a means of holding companies accountable. It has the capability to expose and criticize those with subpar emission levels, but it can also aid in showcasing the advancements made by top-performing companies in reducing their emissions.

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According to Steven Hamburg, the EDF’s chief scientist and leader of the MethaneSat project, the oil and gas sector has the knowledge and ability to address leaks at a minimal cost. He refers to this as “low hanging fruit” or easily achievable tasks.

Kelly Levin, the top science executive for the Bezos Earth Fund which provided financial support for the effort, stated that the MethaneSat has a unique view from above, enabling it to uncover hidden details and ensure responsible actions are being taken.

Last year, The Guardian uncovered over 1,000 locations emitting high levels of methane. The most severe leak released the gas at a rate equal to 67 million cars on the road. The article also exposed alarming methane emissions in Turkmenistan, prompting the government to promise corrective measures. This information was gathered from less detailed data collected by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel 5P satellite.

MethaneSat’s tool has a precision of approximately 140 meters, while Sentinel 5P’s is about six kilometers (3.7 miles). This allows it to detect smaller emissions which contribute significantly to the overall amount. MethaneSat will orbit the Earth 15 times per day at a height of 590km, gathering information within a 200km wide area. Hamburg stated, “This will be the first instance where we have actual data for the entire oil and gas extraction process on a global scale.”

The first results after the commissioning process are expected at the start of the summer with the full flow of data being available from early 2025. Nasa’s Emit mission also collects high-resolution data, but with lower precision methane measurements than MethaneSat, which can detect changes as small as three parts per billion. Methane data from the commercial GHGSat is not freely available.

According to experts, MethaneSat is anticipated to become the primary method for measuring methane. It is also predicted to be a valuable asset to the UN’s global observatory for methane emissions, which will collect and release information regarding leaks.

According to Hamburg, MethaneSat may have the potential to monitor methane emissions from coal mines, landfills, and agricultural activities in the future. This would provide valuable insight into other significant contributors to human-caused emissions, as The Guardian uncovered over 1,000 significant leaks of methane from landfills since 2019.

Source: theguardian.com