A new satellite that can pinpoint greenhouse gas super emitters took off from California on Friday, adding another tool to global efforts to tackle the drivers of global warming.
Tanager-1, which launched alongside SpaceX’s Transporter 11, can detect major emitters of carbon dioxide and methane, a highly potent gas that is 80 times more effective than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere. It was deployed through a coalition involving Carbon Mapper, Planet Labs and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with funding from groups such as Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.
The satellite will focus on facilities that spew out more than 100 kilograms of methane an hour and will help identify the source of those emissions, such as a pipeline leak or flare from a power plant, according to Carbon Mapper. It’s the first of many such satellites the nonprofit hopes to launch, with plans to make the resulting data publicly available online.
Tanager-1 is seen as a complement to MethaneSAT, a satellite supported by the Environmental Defense Fund and Google that helps locate and quantify emissions at a wider scale, such as an entire oil and gas basin.
