Well Al Gore has come through again. He went to COP-27 and talked, in an interview with All Things Considered, about a new way that everyone can tell what level of CO2 different industries are producing.
It's a map from satellite images. Of the world. Including China etc.
Al Gore helped launch a global emissions tracker that keeps big polluters honest
In the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, one of the longstanding challenges has been figuring out who is exactly producing them and how much.
Now, a new global tracker is helping to make clear exactly where major greenhouse gas emissions are originating. Created by the nonprofit Climate Trace, the interactive map uses a combination of satellites, sensors and machine learning to measure the top polluters worldwide.
It observes how much greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — are being emitted at specific locations, such as power plants and oil refineries. Former Vice President Al Gore, who is a founding member of the initiative, said it is meant to serve as a more reliable and accurate alternative to companies self-reporting their emissions estimates.
"Cheating is impossible with this artificial intelligence method, because they would have to somehow falsify multiple sets of data," he told NPR's Michel Martin on All Things Considered.
Gore recently returned from Egypt where world leaders have been convening to discuss the climate crisis at the annual U.N. climate conference, also known as COP27.
He believes the tracker will help countries stick to their pledges to reach net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050.
Climate Trace wants to track nearly every big source of greenhouse emissions
The emissions tool employs over 300 satellites; sensors on land, planes and ships; as well as artificial intelligence to build models of emission estimates.
Right now, it tracks about 72,000 of the highest emitting greenhouse gas sources. That includes every power plant, large ship and large plane in the entire world, Gore said.
And that's just the beginning. By next year, Gore hopes to be tracking millions of major emitting sites.
"We will have essentially all of them," he said.
Gore said 75% of the world's greenhouse emissions come from countries that have made pledges to become carbon-neutral by 2050. "Now that they know exactly where it's coming from, they have tools that will enable them to reduce their emissions," he told NPR.
He added that the database, which is free and accessible online, can help inform countries about how much pollution is being emitted by the companies they are working with or considering working with.
It is not enough for companies to self-report, he said. For instance, Climate Trace found that the oil and gas industry has been significantly underreporting its emissions.
"We found their emissions are three times higher than they have been telling the United Nations," Gore said.
In the U.S. specifically, oil and gas producers have underreported how much methane they've been releasing, recent research suggests.
That doesn't mean companies were intentionally cheating, Gore added. However, he said underreporting prevents governments and the public from staying on track with their net-zero pledge.
Six regional governments in Mexico, Europe and Africa have already entered into working agreements for using the tool, Gore said.
Gore remains optimistic about the climate future
The world is generally off track from its goal of cutting emissions that drive climate change, but Gore said he's been impressed by recent efforts around the globe to address the issue.
In the U.S., Gore pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes over $360 billion to tackle climate change and incentivizes consumers to make greener choices. Gore described the law as "the biggest climate legislation in the history of the world."
He also praised Australia for voting in a new government that pledged to shift away from coal and Brazil for electing a new president who vowed to stop destroying the Amazon.
"So there's great danger, but there is hope," Gore said. "If we can summon the will to act."
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThe new global tracker is interesting. It is good we still have hope. Take care, have a great day!
...I wonder if COP-27 will be just so much hot air.
ReplyDeleteI was trying to remember which COP resulted in the Paris Accord, where everybody agreed to cut emmissions to stay below 1.5 degrees C. Last year was in Scotland, and I admit to not knowing about the earlier years.
DeleteIt truly is discouraging. We can tell by things like fog from pollution, and which countries are the worst, but CHina, for example, won't do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit lopsided at this point. But when all of us can't breathe, or are underwater, or are without water in droughts...the climate doesn't care what your politics are.
DeleteBarbara, Very interesting tool for measuring emissions such as carbon and methane. Will India and China, with a combined population of about 2.8 billion actually do much of anything in the near future? Russia can't, Pakistan can't, Nigeria can't and Indonesia can't. I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to cut our emissions but will it be enough and do we really understand the economic and long range environmental impact of electric cars, trucks, the needed infrastructure, etc.? Can't solar panels be recycled? What about aging Wind Turbines? I hope that the zero emission folks have thought these changes out to a point 20 - 50 years from now. Of course, no matter what, we have to try to cut emissions... Time will tell if our solutions really get the job done. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
ReplyDeleteYes, it's interesting to those of us who bother to learn about these things. While all of us will eventually suffer, first we have to deal with those in droughts, floods, or sea incursion. More than getting together with speaches with platitudes!
DeleteThat is creative.
ReplyDeleteWell, someone can now point a finger at those lying companies. Wonder if there is going to be any repercussions.
DeleteI find it hard to believe that the honourable petrochemical companies would under-report. 🤷♂️
ReplyDeleteI was just reading about that in the EDF newsletter. It’s a shame Gore was not cheated out of the presidency. We might be in a different situation as far as the climate.
ReplyDeleteWe need more Al Gores. One can only imagine what might have happened had he become president. It is worth remembering how gracefully he yielded to George Bush for the sake of the country, unlike what happens today.
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