The satellite helping slow climate change — right now | Millie Chu Baird

[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_01]: In 2022, the EPA revealed that methane, a significant contributor to the greenhouse effect, makes

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_01]: up about 12% of all U.S. emissions.

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_01]: The main culprits?

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_01]: The livestock we rely on for sustenance.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Then there's leaky natural gas and petroleum pipelines that fuel our daily lives.

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And let's not forget the vast piles of wasted food and organic matter in landfills, emitting

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_01]: harmful fumes as they decompose.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Methane emissions are tied into millions of people's daily lifestyles.

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Our challenge is figuring out how to make sustainable change on this front.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_01]: And some new tech-based solutions just might be the way forward.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_01]: This is TED Tech, a podcast from the TED Audio Collective.

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm your host, Sherelle Dorsey.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_01]: So how do we handle methane?

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Alongside the launch of the multi-billion dollar Inflation Reduction Act, the White

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_01]: House rolled out a methane emissions reduction program in 2022.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_01]: These efforts may be even more effective by looping in new technology.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_01]: What if, instead of relying on self-reporting, we leverage technology to pinpoint even the

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_01]: smallest methane leaks and get precise data on where this particular greenhouse gas is

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_01]: coming from?

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Today we hear from environmental advocate Millie Choubert.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_01]: She's also the vice president of the Office of Chief Scientist at the Environmental

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Defense Fund.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Millie takes the TED stage to introduce MethaneSat, a satellite circling the earth

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_01]: right now to track global emissions from methane.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But before we dive in, a quick break to hear from our sponsors.

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[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey TED Tech listeners.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_01]: If you enjoy this show, we think you'll enjoy a new show about how tech is changing

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_01]: our politics.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_01]: It's called Wired Politics Lab, hosted by Wired senior politics editor Leah Feiger

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[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And now, Millie Choubert takes the TED stage.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Lots of people are really enthusiastic about space.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: My husband, my daughters, and a lot of my colleagues love rockets and pretty much

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_00]: anything that has to do with space.

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: It's never really been my thing.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: However, I recently went to a rocket launch and I can honestly say that I got emotional.

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And the emotion that I felt wasn't just thrill or awe.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: It was hope because my colleagues and I helped put something on that rocket that

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_00]: the single most important thing we can do to affect climate change in our lifetimes.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: We often hear about things we can do to help our grandchildren and the Earth that

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: they'll inherit, and everything we're doing to reduce carbon dioxide will certainly

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_00]: help in the long run.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: But what if we could do something that would help people's lives now?

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I believe we can because we're taking on methane.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Methane is a highly potent short-term greenhouse gas.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's compare this year's carbon dioxide pollution from burning fossil fuels

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: with this year's methane pollution.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_00]: There is a lot more CO2.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: However, because methane is over 80 times as powerful at trapping heat in the

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: short term, methane will cause as much warming as all that CO2.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And methane is easier to control if we know where it's coming from.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: So what was on that rocket that makes me so hopeful?

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Methane sat.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: It's one of thousands of active satellites orbiting the Earth, but it's

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: my favorite not just because we helped put it there, but because we designed

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: it for a purpose, to have a profound impact on methane and soon.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: For the past 20 years, my job has been to understand climate from a variety

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: of angles to be a bridge between scientists, policymakers and companies

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: ensuring that we're all working towards the same big vision.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And the vision for methane sat is to deliver actual data quickly,

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: putting it in the hands of people in the trenches pushing for change.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, methane comes from several sources.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: It comes from cows.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It comes from landfills.

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: It comes from coal mines.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of it comes from leaks from the oil and gas infrastructure.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: For a while, we've known what the overall concentration of methane is in

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: the atmosphere, but we haven't been able to pinpoint sources and tell how

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: much was coming from where.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, companies and governments often underreport their emissions because

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_00]: they simply haven't had good data.

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: But now they will.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: When we looked at the data we were collecting using airplanes, we

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: realized that we would never get a comprehensive enough view.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We simply cannot fly an airplane over every oil and gas field in the

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: world every day.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: We realized that we needed to be collecting our data using a satellite

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: and that satellite would need spectrometers that did not yet exist.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_00]: So we went to the world's most innovative instrument experts and they

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: helped us build two spectrometers that would allow us to see methane

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: emissions from 590 kilometers away from space.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: They had to develop a new manufacturing technique to create a prism

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_00]: that would allow us to see how even the smallest concentrations of

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: methane interact with light.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty amazing.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: To give you a sense of the power of MethaneSat, we'll be able to zoom in

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: and out and circle back weekly to see how emissions have changed.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: MethaneSat will show the total picture, not just point sources or

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: large leaks, but also the smaller, more spread out sources that

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: actually make up the majority of emissions most of the time.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: MethaneSat will show how much methane is coming from where over time.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: But after we do our analysis on it, we still have to solve a people

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00]: challenge and change human behavior.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: So we'll put our analysis directly in the hands of those who can

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: take action to reduce methane from oil and gas.

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_00]: That would be government regulators, the companies themselves and

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_00]: nonprofits who will be receiving our data at no cost.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Fixing leaks is actually not a technical challenge.

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Often it's as easy as fixing a crack in a pipe.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Companies know how to do this, it's just a matter of priority.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what I mean by a people challenge.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Environmental Defense Fund is taking this on as the first

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_00]: environmental nonprofit to own and operate a satellite.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We are supporting both the technology and the advocacy.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: MethaneSat would not exist without generous donors,

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: some of whom are a part of this TED community.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: We'd like to thank you for your belief in our mission.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_00]: We'd also like to thank government entities like the New Zealand Space Agency,

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: who have invested in MethaneSat to build their space capacity,

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_00]: but also to better understand methane emissions from agriculture.

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_00]: With powerful data and boots on the ground,

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_00]: our goal is to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas facilities

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_00]: by 75% in the next six years.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: That's 75%.

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot and we have momentum.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_00]: 50 companies representing 40% of global oil and gas production

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_00]: have already pledged to cut their methane emissions by 90% by 2030.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Over 150 countries have signed the global methane pledge

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_00]: to be a part of this solution.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Purchasers can also influence sellers.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The largest importer of natural gas in the world,

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00]: the European Union, is already taking steps

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_00]: to extend its rules to apply to imports

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and setting in place rules that will allow them to buy

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: from suppliers that have the least methane emissions.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And MethaneSat will help track all of that.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It's powerful when countries and companies have this knowledge,

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's even more powerful when we all have the knowledge

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_00]: because it provides the information and the incentive for people

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_00]: to fulfill their commitments.

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: This kind of radical transparency changes the dynamic.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It's what makes me hopeful,

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and I hope you share that feeling as well.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_00]: With MethaneSat in space and the power of people on Earth,

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_00]: let's do everything we can as quickly as we can

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_00]: to slow the rate of global warming in our lifetimes.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_01]: That was Millie Choubert at TED 2024.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_01]: With the precision data MethaneSat offers

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_01]: as it orbits and monitors our emissions,

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_01]: we have a powerful tool to drive future policy changes.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_01]: If we act fast, this tech could help us significantly reduce

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: methane from the oil and gas industry over the next six years.

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Millie's talk highlights how a solvable problem

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_01]: paired with a technical solution can be tackled by lawmakers

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and businesses pushing for updated practices.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_01]: The potential benefits are immense,

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_01]: especially for communities near oil and gas plants,

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_01]: where air pollution can increase the risk of asthma, cancer

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and other health issues.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Taking action now can protect the most vulnerable

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and improve health outcomes for everyone.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_01]: TED Tech is part of the TED Audio Collective.

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_01]: This episode was produced by Nina Lawrence,

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_01]: edited by Alejandro Salazar,

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and fact-checked by Julia Dickerson.

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Special thanks to Maria Ladias,

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Ferre de Grange, Cori Hajime,

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Daniela Valerezo and Michelle Quint.

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Sherrell Dorsey.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for listening and talk to you again next week.