Newly Launched Satellite Detects Emissions From Industrial Facilities

GHGSat, a global emissions-monitoring company based in Montreal, has launched a satellite that will detect emissions from industrial facilities. The satellite can capture the facilities, such as power plants, in high resolution to more accurately track and attribute emissions.

The satellite, known as GHGSat C10 or Vanguard, launched on Nov. 10 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

While satellites that track emissions already exist, none are focused on tracking emissions from facility to facility. With high-resolution technology, the Vanguard satellite is designed to better monitor facilities’ emissions and lead to improved reporting.

“With regulators, investors and the public increasingly holding companies to account, for both their direct and indirect emissions, there is little doubt that better CO2 data is needed,” said Stephane Germain, CEO of GHGSat. “Trusted, independent data will help incentivize industry to manage its emissions effectively. It will ensure that climate policies are well-founded. Above all, it will help all of us stay on track to achieve Net Zero by 2050.”

In the past, GHGSat has used a satellite called Claire to pinpoint the sources of carbon and methane emissions. In total, the company has nine satellites that track emissions on land and offshore, and GHGSat has partnered with NASA, European Space Agency and the United Nations to provide satellite data. The Claire satellite’s collected data ultimately helped reveal that methane emissions were higher than previously estimated, and the new Vanguard satellite could provide similar findings for carbon dioxide.

Earlier this year, other satellites captured major methane leaks from a fossil fuel field in western Turkmenistan as well as methane leaks around the Gulf of Mexico coming from unplugged, or abandoned, oil and gas wells. Another satellite found a large methane cloud over Wyoming in February 2023, and the leaked gas was larger than the plant responsible had reported.

Such emissions-tracking satellites, like Vanguard, may help improve monitoring and reporting, according to GHGSat.

“Often what we find is a mix of direct measurements and estimates — therefore having a direct measurement of the entire facility from a satellite will act as a validation,” Germain explained, as reported by Reuters.

Carbon dioxide and methane are the top two greenhouse gases at 76% and 16%, respectively, of global emissions, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions reported. The biggest industry greenhouse gas emitters include the fossil fuel, agriculture, fashion, transportation and construction industries, Climate Trade reported.