Years in the Making, New Satellite Offers Breakthrough in Global Methane Emissions Tracking

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By Gwyneth K. Shaw and Judith Katz, Berkeley Law News. 

Excerpt: A satellite launched in August by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has close ties to Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) from the project’s origin to groundbreaking methane emissions research for years to come. The Tanager-1 satellite is part of the broader Carbon Mapper initiative, which aims to detect and quantify methane emissions with unprecedented accuracy. In tandem with MethaneSAT, launched by the Environmental Defense Fund, it can detect both large area methane emissions and leaks within a few meters of their source. ...Methane — a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for about a third of global warming — has been difficult to track. ...Importantly, Carbon Mapper and the Environmental Defense Fund will make the methane data publicly available, allowing nongovernmental organizations, governments, and the general public to access the information — ideally enhancing accountability and encouraging action from companies and jurisdictions to reduce their emissions.... 

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