Paris-based Earth observation analytics player Kayrros has developed a technique to use satellite data from the European Space Agency (ESA) to detect methane leaks and pinpoint the source at an asset level anywhere in the world.

The technology could help oil and gas operators identify and address methane leaks as the industry seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Kayrros is using data generated by the ESA’s Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite, part of the agency’s Copernicus programme, to track, quantify and attribute emissions of methane emissions, it said this week.

Methane is significantly more destructive than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it is released.

The International Energy Agency estimates that global oil and gas operations were responsible for 82 million tonnes of methane emissions last year, including accidental and deliberate releases from conventional and unconventional gas production, transmission and distribution to end-use consumers.

Detection at asset level

According to Kayrros, there are around 100 high-volume emissions events at any one time around the world, including incidents unrelated to oil and gas.

The company’s tracking technique shows “that methane emissions can now be detected and quantified at an asset level on a global scale, which represents a major step-change in the ability to work towards the reduction of man-made emissions,” a Kayrros spokesperson said.

The technology involves extensive asset mapping, “deep sectoral understanding, and complex machine learning algorithms as well as detection and quantification models in order to identify the missing link between concentrations and emissions”, the company said.

Kayrros chief executive Antoine Rostand said: “The combination of Sentinel 5-P satellite imagery and Kayrros technology represents a world first in the ability to track and attribute these substantial individual methane leaks.

“The good news is most of these are man-made and can easily be addressed through action by individual companies, governments and regulators.”

US-based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has also launched a programme through a wholly owned subsidiary, MethaneSAT, that will use a specially built satellite to locate and measure methane emissions from oil and gas operations and other human-made sources.

MethaneSAT plans to put the satellite in orbit in late 2022.

'Consequences immense'

Kayrros has also worked with scientists from France’s Laboratory for Sciences of Climate & Environment (LSCE) to identify and quantify major methane plumes around the world.

“To date, only a handful of these large anthropogenic sources have been documented,” said LSCE research scientist Thomas Lauvaux.

“To expand this, as Kayrros technology does, constitutes a significant step toward mitigating methane emissions around the globe, a significant contributor to climate change, with the support of operators who now have the required information to take immediate action.”

Rostand said: “The consequences of these findings are immense, as they enable individual companies in the energy sector to identify and address methane leaks across their networks.

"Equally, governments and regulators should take note that access to such detailed emissions data will drastically change their ability to hold emitters accountable and potentially reverse the trend of ever-increasing emissions rates.”

Energy Transition

Satellite data harnessed to track oil and gas methane emissions