Technology

Greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by using satellites to find their sources.

The whole world is trying to reduce the choice of greenhousegases and save the planet from global warming. A variety of technologies are used - the space agency NASA and a number of other companies even develop flying cars that harm the atmosphere much less than ground transportation. According to Bloomberg, dozens of companies around the world have another idea to reduce emissions - they want to launch satellites into Earth’s orbit to detect emission sources. This will allow them to identify the largest air pollutants and bring them to justice.

It is believed that these satellites will be able to changeconcentration of methane, ozone and other greenhouse gases. Manufacturers intend to bring their accuracy to such an extent that they can even detect a leak on a small oil platform. Due to all this, organizations can no longer irresponsibly release greenhouse gases - according to the main developer of the International Energy Agency, Laura Cozzi, oil and gas companies can reduce emissions by 40-50% without special costs.

In 2021, the Environmental Protection Fund will launchyour satellite MethaneSAT. It is able to detect only methane, but this is only a plus - it will work much faster, and with higher accuracy.

There is already a similar satellite GHGSat in Earth orbit,which monitors emissions from oil and gas facilities, thermal and hydroelectric power plants, coal mines and landfills. In the spring or summer of 2019, the developers of this satellite intend to launch an updated version with improved performance.

These satellites can be effective.tool to identify problems and fix them quickly. Perhaps, if the project were deployed earlier, the world would have avoided leaking 100,000 tons of methane from Aliso Canyon in 2015.

Do not forget that in addition to oil and gascompanies, greenhouse gases are being ejected by other objects. For example, these include dams and storage facilities - how they harm the atmosphere, read our material.

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