Satellite to measure methane pollution set to launch from California

A new satellite designed to track global methane pollution is set to launch from California on Monday, taking the next step toward a goal of increasing accountability for some of the world’s largest polluters and reducing greenhouse gas emissions overall.

The satellite, MethaneSAT, was developed by a subsidiary of the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) over six years. It will observe and track total methane emissions in areas of the world that were previously unreachable and identify some of the largest emitters in those places.

MethaneSAT will circle the planet 15 times a day, collecting data that can measure even small changes in methane concentrations.

“MethaneSAT’s superpower is the ability to precisely measure methane levels with high resolution over wide areas, including smaller, diffuse sources that account for most emissions in many regions,” EDF chief scientist and MethaneSAT project leader Steven Hamburg said in a statement. “Knowing how much methane is coming from where and how the rates are changing is essential.”

The satellite comes amid heightened scrutiny on methane emissions and their effect on climate change.

Methane is less persistent in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, but significantly more potent as a planet-warming gas. The concentration of methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled over the past two years, according to NASA, and scientists say it’s responsible for 20 to 30 percent of climate change since the Industrial Revolution.

Governments and companies around the world have recently made pledges to try to limit methane emissions. Some of the largest oil companies in the world pledged in December to reduce methane emissions by at least 80 percent by 2030. Many countries, including the United States, have also proposed rules to penalize excess methane emissions.

Adhering to these goals requires accurate data, and MethaneSAT aims to provide the numbers to help bolster efforts to reduce methane in the atmosphere. The satellite will first focus on oil and gas polluters.

Regulators and companies will be able to use the data to track emissions, and the public will have “near-real time access” to the information and be able to compare the results to the goals set by governments and companies worldwide.

“Cutting methane pollution from fossil fuel operations, agriculture and other sectors is the single fastest way to slow the rate of warming as we continue to decarbonize our energy systems,” EDF President Fred Krupp wrote in a statement.

“To do that requires comprehensive data on this pollution on a global scale. MethaneSAT will show us the full scope of the opportunity by tracking emissions to their source,” Krupp added.

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure, and that’s certainly true when it comes to cutting methane, one of the biggest drivers of climate change,” said former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.N. Secretary-General’s special envoy on climate ambition and solutions and founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, which joined EDF and other groups to create an initiative to hold companies and government accountable for methane management.

“Data from this satellite will help us to better measure methane emissions and target their sources, bringing more transparency to the problem, giving companies and investors the information they need to take action, and empowering the public to hold people accountable,” Bloomberg said.

The satellite will officially lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon9 rocket, just after 2 p.m. local time on Monday. It will be streamed live here.