The digital age of carbon tracking: Tech’s role in reducing emissions

Before Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg took to the stage at the World Economic Forum and European Parliament to drive climate awareness and push policymakers to turn empty environmental promises into action, there was physicist John Tyndall. According to NASA, he “recognised Earth’s natural greenhouse effect and suggested that slight changes in the atmospheric composition could bring about climatic variations.” That was in the 1860s. Fifty years later, Guy Callendar “connected carbon dioxide increases in Earth’s atmosphere to global warming”. Thunberg came almost 100 years later but she’s backing the same message – climate change is a reality and greenhouse gases are the culprits.

The world is warming faster now than at any other point in recorded history says the United Nations, and greenhouse gases (GHGs) are to blame. This warming has far-reaching and dramatic consequences for ecosystems, sustainability and communities due to altered temperatures and weather patterns, rising sea levels and climatic disruptions.

We are now 150 years on from Tyndall’s observations; our research and technological capabilities are more advanced than ever before. So, how are we putting these to use to monitor and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions into the future and help curb their negative effects?

What are greenhouse gases?

A range of gases make up GHGs, including “carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and certain synthetic chemicals”, says the United States Environmental Protection Agency. These gases come from various sources, but in the case of carbon dioxide, burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are the main contributors to GHG emissions. According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, carbon dioxide makes up 76% of GHGs, with methane making up 16% and nitrous oxide contributing 6%. Methane and nitrous oxide are mainly produced through agriculture – wet rice fields, cattle farming and animal waste in the case of methane, and fertiliser production and manure application in the case of nitrous oxide. Synthetic chemicals include hydrofluorocarbons, used in refrigerants and propellants, and perfluorocarbons, used in industrial applications such as aluminium production. This unpack of GHGs is not exhaustive, but it highlights the dominant contributors, which are only set to increase as the world’s population continues to grow.

Earth’s population will surpass 8 billion in 2022 and reach 8.5 billion by 2030. This level of population growth places increasing pressure on the environment and will inevitably increase GHG emissions across the spectrum. By examining just two industries – construction and agriculture – we can see both the impact of GHGs and what needs to be done to ensure this is mitigated.

The kind of anticipated population growth mentioned above necessitates housing, offices, roads, hospitals, shopping malls and more. But all of this comes with an environmental price tag; the construction and building sector is responsible for 37% of global GHG emissions according to the UN Environment Programme. Why? It’s not just the vehicles and heavy machinery burning diesel that contribute, but the production of the physical materials used in construction, such as steel and cement. The Industrial Analytics Platform explains why this is: “The need for continuous high-temperature heat to produce steel, cement and concrete requires huge amounts of energy, much of which is still dependent on fossil fuels.” But shifts are happening. Globally, there is a move towards zero-emission construction machines with construction equipment manufacturer Wacker Neuson leading the charge. In 1930, they were responsible for the world’s first electric rammer, and today, they boast a wide range of electric alternatives. Volvo and Hitachi are other big names in the zero emissions game. There is also a drive to mitigate GHG impact through “improvement of heating and ventilation and adoption of zero-energy building design”, but this, much like the switch to zero-emission machinery, will take time. Meanwhile, the world’s population continues to boom and the construction industry relies on the tried and tested to keep up with demand.

More mouths to feed also pressure agricultural systems, amplifying methane and nitrous oxide production. Arable land expansion also has other environmental impacts such as deforestation, soil degradation, harmful land-use strategies and land fragmentation which reduces agricultural productivity. All of this has an ecological impact and directly affects GHG emissions in the case of deforestation. As quoted in an Environmental Defense Fund report, “clearing and burning tropical forests accounts for about 20% of global annual Greenhouse Gas emissions, about as much as all of the fossil fuels burned in the US every year and more than the world’s transportation sector.” This is a sobering reality if ever there was one. Forests are an unmatched carbon sink, absorbing “a net 7.6 billion metric tonnes of CO2 per year” says the World Resources Institute. Preserving our forests is one step of many on the journey towards reducing CO2 levels; sustainable agricultural practices such as crop rotation, improving water storage practices for irrigation and permaculture are others.

Creating a positive and lasting climate impact will require a coordinated and multi-pronged approach. No one solution – whether in construction, agriculture or countless other industries – is going to drive the change we need as we aim for a greener future. What we require is a coordinated global effort, backed by the power of technology and data, to give us a bird’s-eye view of GHG emissions, their impact and measures to stop us from reaching the point of no return. We need to amplify the work already being done by activists and organisations across industries.

Greenhouse gas prevention and monitoring

Monitoring and mitigating the impact of greenhouse gas emissions is imperative. The first crucial step is gathering the insights needed to make informed, transformative environmental decisions; the second is ensuring those insights reach world leaders, policymakers, scientists, and climate advocates.

The first real monitoring of GHGs came in 1958 with the erection of a monitoring station on top of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory. Carbon dioxide levels were recorded, and data revealed what has become known as the Keeling Curve. According to History.com “the upward, sawtooth-shaped curve showed a steady rise in CO2 levels, along with short, jagged up-and-down levels of the gas produced by repeated wintering and greening of the Northern Hemisphere.” Computer modelling of the 1960s predicted the Keeling Curve observations’ possible outcomes, noting a two degree of global atmospheric warming in the next 100 years.

NASAs involvement in the late 1990s and early 2000s moved GHG and climate monitoring into a new dimension with the launch of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on one of their spacecraft. This satellite “gathers infrared energy emitted from Earth’s surface and atmosphere globally”, the data from which can be used in various climate models, weather forecasts and more. The satellite’s ability to measure temperature, water vapour, and trace gases (among other things) is imperative for monitoring GHGs. NASAs Orbiting Carbon Observatory would follow in 2009. Its objective was to measure and map the global distribution of carbon dioxide, funnelling that data back to shed light on carbon dioxide sources and sinks and to aid in more accurate climate models and effective environmental policymaking. After a failed launch, Orbiting Cabron Observtaory-2 was launched in 2014 and is still in orbit.

Technology to the rescue!

Today, technology has advanced far beyond the then-ambitious Mauna Loa Observatory of the 50s. Analytical field devices and sensors, remote sensing technologies such as satellite technology and unmanned aerial vehicles, and surface-level monitoring using ground-based equipment have all been deployed over the years to gather emission data and inform environmental strategies globally. Some of these technologies provide breadth of coverage and data capture, while others have better applications in more local contexts; regardless of how they are used, ideations and innovations across monitoring modes have led to technological advances that now give us richer insight.

In August this year, Planet Labs launched its first hyperspectral satellite to detect and monitor the Earth’s carbon dioxide and methane levels. Carbon Mapper – a nonprofit focused on filling data gaps and improving global monitoring of methane and CO2 to enable science-based decision-making – will use this information to support direct mitigation action in a global warming context, sharing crucial data with the powers that be. The satellite can also provide data for environmental and water quality assessments.

GHGSat is another company supporting information sharing between governments, regulators, investors, and activists through high-resolution greenhouse gas emissions sensing technology used in space. GHG emissions management software developed by KBC is also driving alternative sustainable actions for company operations to meet lower emission targets. According to the company website, this software “gathers and filters data, runs a model of energy sources, calculates the corresponding emissions, and optimizes alternative scenarios to reduce energy consumption and emissions.” Countless other companies are designing and deploying various hardware and software to help reduce their climate impact and carve out a more sustainable way forward.

Our technological capability is our greatest asset as we look to reduce our greenhouse gas impact and establish more sustainable business and personal practices. By sharing environmental insights and innovations and coordinating efforts across industries and key players, there’s no telling what a positive impact this could have, both now and in the future.