Online Event

Webinar 2: How can aerial measurements aid methane emissions reduction?

08 June 2020

Webinar series on Methane Emissions

Second webinar:

How can policy and regulation foster the development of satellite measurement and other new technological approaches? Could satellites and other aerial measurement methods provide for step-change in methane emissions regulation?

Following the first webinar on methane emissions, this online event focuses on the impact of the satellites and other aerial measurements on regulatory regimes for methane and the role of regulation in further promoting these measurements.

Now live!
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Programme

Monday, 8th of June 2020, 15.00-17.00 CEST

Moderated by Maria Olczak, FSR

15.00 – 15.15 Welcome and a short recap from the previous workshop

Maria Olczak | Florence School of Regulation/RSCAS/EUI

Andris Piebalgs | Florence School of Regulation/RSCAS/EUI

Mark Radka | UN Environment

15.15 – 15.50 Roundtable 1: How to incorporate aerial measurements in methane policies and regulation?

Robert Kleinberg | Columbia University / Boston University

Poppy Kalesi | Environmental Defense Fund

Katherine Konschnik | Duke University

Manfredi Caltagirone | UN Environment

Guiding questions:

• Do current methane emissions regulations pose a barrier to the growth of aerial and satellite measurements?

• What capacities must be developed to manage and utilize the growing body of methane measurement data? How can we facilitate data integration and management on a global scale?

• What role exists for public-private partnership projects to support data-driven methane policy?

15.50 – 16.00 Q&A session with the audience

16.00 – 16.35 Roundtable 2: How to make the regulation open to the development of new technologies?

Carlos de Regules | Expert on Regulatory Strategies, former head of ASEA (Mexico)

Boyko Nitzov | ACER

Monika Zsigri | European Commission (DG Energy)

K.C. Michaels | International Energy Agency

Guiding questions:

• How to design regulation in order to encourage technology innovation in measurement?

• Which other policy instruments could support technology innovation (e.g. R&D pro-grammes, pilot projects, etc.)?

16.35 – 16.45 Q&A session

16.45 – 17.00 Concluding remarks

Roland Kupers | Institute for Advanced Studies / Arizona State University

Christopher Jones | Florence School of Regulation/RSCAS/EUI

Watch with us:

Background

On 15^th of January 2020 the International Energy Agency (IEA), in collaboration with Florence School of Regulation (FSR), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Methane Guiding Principles partners, organized a workshop in Paris dedicated to overcoming the challenge of addressing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector through sound methane policies and regulations. The meeting was instrumental in gathering around one table a global network of methane policy and regulatory experts to share experiences and best practices for driving methane emissions reductions.

One of the major topics that emerged during the Paris workshop was the role of new technologies, especially satellite and aircraft-based instruments, in methane emissions mitigation. These technologies provide top-down emissions data that can supplement and reinforce measurements on the ground. Remote measurement can spot super-emitters, provide accurate and continuously updated data and show plumes of methane in higher resolution than ever before.

A growing number of satellite projects have recently been set in motion. In October 2018, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), GHGSat Inc., and Environmental Defense Fund will launch MethaneSAT in 2022, both of which will measure methane emissions globally. Furthermore, the accuracy and coverage of those readings is expected to ameliorate with the ESA preparing the launch of the Sentinel 5 satellite, and GHGSat planning to set in motion additional satellites.

With this influx of new aerial and satellite data, stakeholders must consider how to use this data in the most efficient way to drive meaningful methane reductions, including how best to integrate this top-down data with existing bottom-up measurement technology.