UK methane leak spotted using satellites

Scientists accidentally came across the leak whilst working on a project to determine how well the UK quantifies emissions of large methane emitters by combining satellite observations, ground-based observations and atmospheric modelling.  

While reviewing the data, the Leeds team noticed an unusually large methane source near a landfill site they were examining. According to the data, the site was emitting methane at a rate of over 200 kg per hour.

The team first recorded the Cheltenham emission in March 2023. Over the following 11 weeks, they worked together to pinpoint the exact location of the leak and alerted the utility company responsible, who acted quickly to address the leak.

Repairs were completed by June 2023, after which the satellites recorded no further emissions. In total, the methane leaked over this period was estimated to equal the annual electricity consumption of more than 7500 homes.

While methane is less prevalent in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, its global warming potential is approximately 84 times greater, underscoring the importance of monitoring and reducing emissions of this potent greenhouse gas.

The Cheltenham incident highlights the increasing capability of satellites to accurately detect specific emission sources from space. Although satellites have observed Earth’s climate for decades, there is now a growing demand for pinpointing emissions from individual facilities to detect accidental leaks or deliberate releases.

Emily Dowd, Principal Investigator and PhD student at the School of Earth and Environment and the National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Leeds, said, “The access to satellite data provided to us through the ESA Third-Party Missions Programme allowed us to detect and monitor this leak as part of our investigation into methane point sources in the UK.

“GHGSat kindly provided us with additional data to monitor the leak until it was resolved. The detection of this leak, though unplanned, is a perfect example of how these satellite products can promote collaboration between scientists and industry to reduce our impact on global warming.”

This discovery was made possible thanks to GHGSat’s fleet of 12 commercial satellites, capable of detecting greenhouse gas emissions with a ground resolution of 25 m. These satellites can trace emissions back to individual facilities and make small leaks visible and measurable from space.

GHGSat joined ESA’s Third Party Missions Programme in 2022. The programme allows the wider scientific community free access to high quality commercial data from a wide range of Earth observation satellite missions.

The programme, which has been operating for over 45 years, includes more than 60 instruments on more than 50 space missions, continually expanding its portfolio to support climate science.

Claus Zehner, Sentinel-5P Mission Manager at ESA, said, “This unexpected detection of a methane leak by the University of Leeds and the quick repair of it as a follow up by the utility owner is really an impressive example of active climate mitigation.”

GHGSat satellites complement the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite and other future missions including the upcoming Copernicus Sentinel-5 and Copernicus Carbon Dioxide Monitoring missions.

These missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus programme – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data – in measuring both methane and atmospheric carbon dioxide at a high spatial resolution.