Google is making a map of methane leaks for the whole world to see::Google will use satellite data, AI, and its computing power to map methane emissions around the globe. The transparency marks a new era in climate accountability.
Fuck me, Google is doing something good.
They realized that biosphere collapse wouldn’t be profitable in the long run.
The supposition currently is Russia is a huge emitter, especially Siberia as the permafrost melts.
These positive feedback mechanisms are the sleeping giant.
It will be very useful to track this over time.
Siberia isn’t the permafrost melting - those emissions correlate to known Oil and Gas Wells, that mostly have been just left open, so that they can be used easily again. Melting permafrost is still releasing relatively little.
I work in O&G and my own firm just spent the last three years hunting for and patching pipe leaks by looking for methane emissions.
This is something they’ve been crowing about for a while, but its been a problem for decades that only got treated as something worth fixing when the cost of aerial reconnaissance dropped. Its a classic negative externality that energy companies simply don’t want to acknowledge until the price is right.
If you think this is the only case in which lax regulation has left the lid off Pandora’s box, don’t ask what was up with the BP oil rig explosion or look to hard into the number of gas leaks polluting the Mississippi river or… really… ask any questions at all about the state of safety and soundness of O&G infrastructure.
Yep…makes Synthetic fuels an even more no-brainer for me personally. Granted, it doesn’t for those companies and lobbyists because it’s going to be a lot more expensive initially, but if there’s really a will to do something against climate change, the first thing to do should be taxing those companies doing this shit willfully and knowingly to hell and back. A few wind turbines with some electrolysis machines suddenly become a lot cheaper.
And it’s a Win-Win for everyone - lots of people keep their jobs, execs keep getting money and I can keep driving ICE - and no extra co2, methan or other gasses are being released. And with these Satellites, there’s actually a way to keep companies from being shit.
But that may very well be a bit too utopian…
Before you get excited, farts have on average about <0.01% methane. Its mostly hydrogen sulfide.
Party pooper
Reminder: “The Nord Stream gas leak emitted up to 500,000 tons of methane : NPR”
That written looks way more impressive than 0.5 Mega tons, or 0.0005Gt, which is how global emissions are often noted.
Now I’m curious how it ranks in scale with other emissions
GIS nerds unite!
But seriously, great way to see the technology used and data distributed. One day I can only hope to grasp a more complete understanding of the software and how to apply it to do shit like this.
Curious to see how this will flame the “China making up all the bad gases” data simplification while it will omit everything else in that regard as they won’t be its business.
Great, now I have to worry about this every time I order a curry
The irony would be thick if this satellite were launched on a next-Gen methane fueled rocket.
(That is the trend now, kerosene and hydrogen are out, methane is in.)
It would be simple for smart phone manufacturers to have an air quality tester built into the phone. Everyone being able to measure how crappy the air around them is and be notified when it’s unhealthy would push action on environmental care, reduction in cars etc
Have you ever seen an air quality tester? Especially one that can tell between different kinds of pollutants? They are not exactly pocket compatible
Sounds like we need to make bigger pockets
You can already see this on air quality maps and such anyway. People just don’t care.
Consumer grade Air Quality Index devices give off crazy readings from things you wouldn’t think they would. If a normal reading indoors is about 100, someone walking by with perfume on can spike it to 450 for a few seconds. Someone using a cleaning product to wipe down a table can spike it to 250. Someone cooking meal can spike it to 400.
None of those are things we’re looking to change, but would show up in your readings you’re proposing.
Google of course, being one of the biggest polluters on Earth, knows that Real Recognizes Real.
Creating and parsing this data set would also create a shitload more carbon emissions and necessitate building more datacenters, wouldn’t it?
Nothing Google dies excites or even interests me
Idk, I’m anti google, degoogled phone, no google connection like accounts or using they’re search engine but this is a net positive.
They’ve not earned my respect but large platforms doing this stuff could open peoples eyes to world issues.
It’ll be shut down within 2yrs and forgotten. Just like their Mars & Moon Maps and a million other things.
