- Nine nonprofits, tech companies, and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore announce ‘Climate TRACE’ coalition.
- The aim of this coalition is to build unprecedented technical breakthroughs to identify, measure, and trace all significant human-caused GHG emissions to their sources.
- The coalition includes nonprofits like CarbonPlan, Carbon Tracker, Earthrise Alliance, Hudson Carbon, OceanMind, Rocky Mountain Institute.
- It also includes tech companies such as WattTime; Blue Sky Analytics and Hypervine.
- The coalition will share technical capabilities in AI- or satellite-based monitoring in a specific industry from the power sector, to oil & gas, to agriculture and shipping.
A recent report published by the Carbon Tracker on its website highlights the importance and possibilities of monitoring GHG emissions worldwide in real time using AI and Satellites.
Formation of coalition
Nine organizations from around the world and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore announced a cutting-edge initiative to monitor worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
This initiative will use artificial intelligence (AI), satellite image processing, machine learning, and other remote sensing technologies
This unprecedented collaboration aims to track human-caused emissions to specific sources in real time—independently and publicly.
The combined project will be known as Climate TRACE (Tracking Real-time Atmospheric Carbon Emissions).
The advantage of advanced AI
To track the GHG emissions from nearly every major human-emitting activity worldwide—such as power plants, factories, large ships, and more—is a difficult undertaking.
Whereas, the advanced AI and machine learning will now make it possible for the first time.
Governments rely on outdated data
A lot of governments, companies, and scientists have to rely on data that can be out of dated for years.
Sometimes these data are subject to deliberate under-reporting. Moreover, the data often provides only incomplete, high-level summary information at best.
The impact of Google.org grant
In 2019, a group of nonprofits, namely, US-based WattTime and UK-based Carbon Tracker teamed up to apply for Google.org’s AI Impact Challenge.
They submitted a proposal to monitor all global power plant emissions from space.
Google.org apart from selecting the project for a $1.7 million grant also sent a group of seven skilled data engineering and machine learning Fellows to support the ‘Climate TRACE coalition’ for six months and bring the initiative to fruition.
50 more organizations and scientists
A helping hand
More than 50 other organizations and scientists around the world offered to help.
A systematic investigation was begun to find out whether mixing and matching innovations from various groups could improve global emissions monitoring even further.
Vice President Gore
Vice President Gore had been investigating ideas for a more-robust and reliable accounting of global emissions as countries strive to meet Paris Agreement targets and increase ambition to put the world on a sustainable pathway.
“The world has reached a tipping point on the climate crisis. In order to achieve a zero-carbon future, we need a comprehensive accounting of where pollution is coming from,” said Vice President Al Gore.
Learning as a team
The teams learned that various organizations achieved individual advanced technologies that could help with emissions monitoring, such as improved AI algorithms and lower-cost satellites.
But many of those breakthroughs have so far been sitting siloed in different organizations.
The potential applications for such a system are numerous, for example:
For scientists and technologists building emerging emissions-reducing technologies: the tool will accelerate private-sector innovation in advanced carbon optimization techniques in forestry, renewable energy, and power grid management.
For sustainability teams at private-sector companies, investors, and entire industries: the tool will offer crucial visibility to more-easily and accurately meet emissions-reduction goals, direct sustainable investments (and divestments), and assess risk.
For countries measuring emissions-reduction progress for the Paris Agreement commitments: the tool may be useful in independently verifying measurements, or supporting emissions monitoring by countries without the resources to produce such detailed, up-to-date inventories.
For any organizations polluting illegally who might seek to keep their emissions hidden from public view: the tool will provide pioneering transparency and validation to make it easier for governments that have enacted environmental laws to immediately identify any activities that violate those laws.
“We are excited that Climate TRACE holds the promise to revolutionize global efforts to measure and reduce emissions across every sector of society, creating a new era of unprecedented transparency and accountability. Our vision is to equip business, policy, and citizen leaders with an essential tool to fully realize the economic and job-creation opportunities of the Sustainability Revolution.” Added Gore
About Climate TRACE
Climate TRACE is a coalition created to make meaningful climate action faster and easier by mobilizing the global tech community to track greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with unprecedented detail and speed.
Climate TRACE is working to build a cohesive, technical solution to make humanity’s GHG emissions transparent, accessible, and actionable for all.
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Source: Carbon Tracker
