Thibaud Hue, edited by Laura Laplaud 6:10 am, November 24, 2021
While the European Parliament has called on the European Commission to set targets to reduce emissions of methane, one of the most polluting gases, a French company, Kayrros, has looked into the subject.
She proposes to track these emissions from space.
A world first.
How could artificial intelligence help in the fight against global warming?
NASA, the Sentinel network and even MI6 are working on this subject.
In France, a company called Kayrros has developed a system to identify natural gas leaks responsible for global warming.
"We are able to follow the commitments of the States in real time", assures its president Antoine Rostand.
A world first
Will the signatory states of COP26 respect their commitments? If they signed the "Glasgow Pact for the climate", allowing in particular to finalize the rules of application of the Paris Agreement, and to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, nothing guarantees that they will keep their commitments, except, perhaps, artificial intelligence which could well enter the game.
In orbit 800 km from Earth, the Sentinel 5 satellite locates methane slicks using an infrared sensor.
He sends all his data to Paris to the company Sky Ross, which tracks leaks of this gas in each country.
Its president, Antoine Rostand, wants to put positive pressure on it by pointing the finger at too negligent states.
"We are able to follow in real time the commitments of States and companies in relation to the promises they made in Paris or Glasgow," he assures us.
"A question of justice"
"If we are not able to lower our emissions everywhere in the world, there is no point in lowering them in Europe so that they go up elsewhere. So it is not a question of espionage, it is a question of justice, "he says.
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The studies already carried out are clear: methane leaks, often accidental, greatly accelerate global warming.
This is what explains Thomas Laveau, researcher at the Science and Environment laboratory in Paris-Saclay: "The gas that can be recovered by avoiding these leaks can be counted in billions of dollars per year. If we make a comparison with number of cars, it would be the whole traffic sector of France, England and Germany. It is really something which is colossal! "
At COP 26, 105 states pledged to reduce their methane emissions by 30% by 2030. It will take a year to have the first assessments of Kayrros and to know whether governments and companies are keeping their promises.