On March 4, 2024, MethaneSat, a satellite developed by a subsidiary of the Environmental Defense Fund that will locate and quantify methane emissions from oil and gas operations, was launched into orbit.  According to the MethaneSat website, the satellite will be able to quantify regional-scale methane emissions from oil and gas operations down to areas of around 1 km², as well as trace larger single emission events over 500 kg/hr back to their point source.  The satellite will be able to detect methane emissions down to a concentration of 3 parts per billion.  Stakeholders and the public will then be able to access this information freely and in a timely manner on the MethaneSat cloud-based data platform.  

According to a news release on the satellite’s launch, “[d]ata from MethaneSAT will enable both companies and regulators to track emissions, and give stakeholders – citizens, governments, investors, and gas importers – free, near-real time access to the data, and the unprecedented ability to compare the results against emission goals and obligations.”

MethaneSat is not the only player in this space.  For example, in 2024, Carbon Mapper, a California non-profit is planning to launch its own satellites that it states will persistently (i.e., on a daily to weekly basis) pinpoint, track, and make available to the public methane and carbon dioxide emissions at individual facilities located within “high-priority areas.”  According to its website, Carbon Mapper’s satellites will be able to detect point source methane emissions ranging from 50-150 kg/hr and point source carbon dioxide emissions ranging from 200,000-60,000 kg/hr, assuming a 3 m/s wind speed and medium surface brightness. 

Moreover, GHGSat already has satellites in orbit that can measure methane and carbon dioxide emissions from individual industrial facilities. 

As explained previously here, companies and investors associated with emissions-intensive operations should consider taking steps to prepare for what’s next, which may include (1) conducting a tailored analysis of the legal risks that remote sensing technologies pose to current and future operations and (2) considering whether it is worth utilizing remote sensing technologies to supplement current pollution monitoring and quantification efforts.   Companies should especially consider how remote sensing technologies may invite public scrutiny related to climate goals.  

Remote sensing technologies are being increasingly harnessed as regulatory developments seek to quantify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  These regulatory developments include:

• EPA’s  final rule setting new source performance standards and emissions guidelines for oil and natural gas facilities. Under this rule, EPA-certified third parties will be able to use EPA-approved remote sensing technologies to notify the Agency of “super-emitter events” (100 kg/hr of methane or greater), ultimately requiring owners and operators to investigate the events and, if necessary, take corrective actions.  Also, owners and operators of oil and natural gas facilities will be able to use advanced methane detection technologies as an alternative to ground-based methods to comply with monitoring requirements.  24 Republican attorneys general challenged this rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on March 12, 2024.

• EPA’s proposed rule seeking to set greenhouse gas performance standards and emissions guidelines for fossil fuel-fired electric generating units.   A final rule is expected in April.  Notably, the final rule will not apply to existing gas-fired power plants.

• The Security and Exchange Commission’s final climate disclosure rule, which will require certain public registrants to disclose their material Scope 1 and/or Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions.  For Large Accelerated Files, the disclosure requirement begins in 2026; for Accelerated Filers, the disclosure requirement begins in 2028.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear consolidated cases challenging this rule. 

• California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which will require certain companies that do business in California to annually measure and report their Scope 1-3 greenhouse gas emissions.   Starting in 2026, covered companies will be required to annually report their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and starting in 2027, those companies will be required to annually report their Scope 3 emissions.On January 30, 2023, various business groups sued the California Air Resources Board challenging this law.

We will continue to track remote sensing technologies and regulatory developments that seek to quantify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the Corporate Environmental Lawyer.

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