Monitoring air pollution can tell you how bad the problem is, and which locations are worst-hit. Unfortunately, tracking down the actual polluters is a bit harder.
Now, researchers have a way to track the emissions of every single power plant in the world, to keep them in line.
The project has been developed by a nonprofit emissions reduction software company named WattTime. Their solution is to use a global network of satellites to measure carbon dioxide emissions, the data from which they will then make public.
The group will use satellites like the EU's Copernicus network and the Landsat network in the US. These are satellite monitoring systems that open out their data for even citizen scientists to peruse. There will also be a few private satellites involved like that of Digital Globe.
The images taken by these satellites (which also include thermal sensors to image heat across the globe) will then be run through various algorithms to detect the telltale signs of carbon emissions. It's already been show that tracking visible smoke can pinpoint a decent amount of pollution. WattTime wants to combine this with thermal imaging to identify heat generation from the smokestacks and cooling stations at power plants, to better pinpoint these emission locations.
This way, WattTime can derive data about emissions in almost real-time.
The project is currently backed by Google's philanthropic wing with a $1.7 million grant, and for good reason. Despite stringent laws across the globe, it's pretty hard to enforce anti-emission. All of that changes the moment governments have access to real-time information about polluting facilities.
Additionally, because the information will be thrown open to the public, it allows for citizen groups to put pressure on polluting facilities, in order to force them to shift to greener production methods.
"Far too many power companies worldwide currently shroud their pollution in secrecy. But through the growing power of artificial intelligence (AI), our little coalition of nonprofits is about to lift that veil all over the world, all at once," said Gavin McCormick, the firm's executive director.
"What I really love about better data is how it puts most companies, governments, and environmentalists on the same side."