Technology giant Google and environmental organization Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced a collaboration on Wednesday aimed at uncovering sources of climate-warming emissions from oil and gas operations using data from a new satellite.
The MethaneSAT satellite, set to launch next month, is part of a larger initiative involving the New Zealand Space Agency, Harvard University, and other partners to monitor methane emissions globally. The satellite will help identify major sources of the potent greenhouse gas, which is invisible but significant in contributing to climate change.
Google Cloud will provide the computing capabilities necessary to process the data collected by MethaneSAT. Additionally, Google plans to leverage artificial intelligence to create a map of oil and gas infrastructure, including components like oil tanks, to overlay with MethaneSAT's emission data. This combined information will be accessible through Google Earth Engine, a geospatial analysis platform available for free to researchers, nonprofits, and the news media.
Yael Maguire, vice president of geo sustainability at Google, highlighted the value of this information for various stakeholders, including energy companies, researchers, and the public sector, in anticipating and mitigating methane emissions.
The launch of MethaneSAT comes amid increasing global efforts to address methane emissions. Over 50 major state-owned and independent oil and gas operators, including ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco, have committed to reducing methane leaks to near zero by the end of the decade, as announced at the COP28 climate summit.
The United States, one of the largest methane-emitting countries, has proposed mandatory measures to curb leaks from oil and gas operations. A new rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would allow the public to report large methane leaks to federal regulators with the help of methane detection technology.
The collaboration between Google and EDF marks a significant step in leveraging technology to monitor and mitigate methane emissions, contributing to global efforts to combat climate change.