MethaneSAT satellite would measure pollution from space

Unpublished
LONDON - The Environmental Defense Fund is currently working on a satellite that would be able to detect methane leaks from space.


Methane is a colorless, odorless, gas that is very hard to track due to the way it dissipates when released into the air.


MethaneSAT will be able to provide unprecedentedly precise measurements on methane emissions. With info from the satellite, scientists will no longer have to obtain permission before visiting a farm or oil and gas operation to look for a methane leak.


"It will be able to see where it's happening [and] how much, across the globe - not just the big sources, but all the sources collectively, and understand the scale of the problem. That's the kind of data we don't have anywhere in the world," says Hamburg.


If all goes according to plan, MethaneSAT will be launched in three years.



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