National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Show Me the Data: Complementary Satellites are Providing Global Transparency in Methane Emissions - Now

About the Talk The world needs global transparency in greenhouse gas emissions. We need global data to verify inventories, find leaks, and measure our progress towards national and industrial targets. The global stock-takes planned under the Paris Agreement require transparency to build trust and work towards real solutions. Complementary satellites already in orbit today are showing how this can be done for methane, and can soon be expanded to carbon dioxide. A global mapping satellite (Sentinel-5P) is being used with a multispectral satellite (Sentinel-2) and facility-level detection satellites (GHGSat) to provide persistent monitoring of methane emissions worldwide. This presentation will demonstrate how these satellites are used together, and show examples of measurements from different industries and geographies. Finally, a roadmap for future improvements will be presented.

About the Speakers Stephane Germain is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GHGSat whose technology provides actionable greenhouse gas emissions data and insights to various industries. Stephane founded GHGSat in 2011 to answer a market need for consistent, high quality measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from industrial facilities worldwide. Mr. Germain has been passionate about applying space technology for the good of the Earth for over 25 years. Prior to founding GHGSat, he held senior management positions in SMEs and large Canadian aerospace corporations. He started his career as an engineer and project manager at Spar Aerospace, and had then the opportunity to work for several years as a consultant at Bain & Company, a leading international strategy consulting firm, working for Fortune 500 companies in industries ranging from forestry to aerospace. Mr. Germain graduated from Queen's University (Canada) with a B.Sc. (Engineering Physics) and a Master in Business Administration from INSEAD (France).

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