Detecting and reducing methane emissions

A new platform offers organisations the opportunity to track and manage methane emissions across their entire supply chain

Spotted: While the world is focused on carbon dioxide emissions, the role of methane in climate change has often been overlooked. Yet methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere. And even though CO2 has a longer-lasting effect, at least 25 per cent of today’s global warming is driven by methane from human actions. Startup Orbio Earth is working to increase awareness and action on methane emissions with a platform that provides actionable methane intelligence.

Orbio Earth uses satellite data and its own proprietary algorithms to provide organisations with accurate and actionable methane intelligence. This can then be used to develop emission reduction plans and benchmarking efforts. Orbio utilises satellites to capture images of methane emissions every four days from any site on earth. The satellite emissions data is then cross-analysed with additional datasets to generate insights around how individual organisations can diagnose and reduce their emission events over time.

Using Orbio’s platform, organisations can then focus on reduction opportunities, and make more transparent buying and supply chain decisions. The platform provides features that allow organisations to better understand the emissions profile of an asset, supply chain, partner company, and/or region.

By offering data aimed at decision-making, Orbio hopes to aid methane-emitting industries like waste and agriculture to reduce their methane emissions by 10 million metric tons by 2030. Robert Huppertz, CEO & Co-Founder of Orbio Earth said that, “Although there is no silver bullet in the fight against climate change, we believe that the global deployment of ground-breaking technologies like satellite-based methane monitoring, can move the needle on climate action while solving real world customer problems …”

Although the fight against methane is just ramping up, Springwise has already seen a number of innovations aimed at stemming emissions. These include a plan to convert cow manure to biogas and a specially-formulated animal feed that reduces methane emissions from cows in the first place. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff