Editor's Choice


Greenhouse gas monitoring satellites

February 2024 Editor's Choice

ABB has secured a third contract with GHGSat, the global leader in high-resolution greenhouse gas monitoring from space, to manufacture optical sensors for its C12, C13, C14 and C15 satellites set to launch into orbit in 2024.

The new satellites will join GHGSat’s expanding constellation, which detects and quantifies industrial gas leaks from space. ABB has built the payloads – the instruments carried on board the satellites – for ten of GHGSat’s emissions monitoring satellites launched into space.

Earlier this year, GHGSat reported that its existing satellites have doubled their methane emission measurement capabilities thanks to the exceptional performance of these sensors. This has allowed GHGSat to accelerate the scaling of its monitoring services, helping industries such as oil and gas, power generation, and mining to understand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“The new contract is a testament to GHGSat’s confidence in ABB’s manufacturing capabilities to build complex, high-performing optical payloads for hyperspectral earth observation,” said Marc Corriveau, head of Global Operations, Business Line Analytical, ABB Measurement & Analytics. “This year, we doubled our manufacturing infrastructure dedicated to space projects so that we can better serve the booming private space sector.”

“Our collaboration, which began in 2018, has showcased ABB’s technical expertise and manufacturing capabilities,” said Stéphane Germain, CEO of GHGSat. “This experience has fortified our belief in ABB’s capacity to support GHGSat’s expansion in building proprietary

high-resolution payloads. Such partnerships are the key to achieving significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately making an impact in the battle against climate change.”

ABB has been a leader in gas sensing from orbit for over two decades, starting with the development of the Canadian Space Agency SCISAT mission payload, which profiles the concentration of more than 70 different gas types down to parts per trillion from cloud top to outer space.

ABB also provided hyperspectral technologies to the Japanese GOSAT programme, which pioneered the global mapping at regional scale of sources and sinks of greenhouse gases from orbit starting with a first satellite in 2009 and an improved version in 2018.

Today, ABB builds on this legacy by manufacturing enhanced versions of GHGSat’s proprietary wide-angle Fabry-Perot (WAF-P) interferometer, which tracks the same infrared fingerprint of greenhouse gases. In this way, ABB applies its vast expertise acquired in earlier high-profile government space missions to the private sector space, with a focus on actionable low-latency satellite data for civil uses. Space is the only location that allows greenhouse gas emissions to be monitored freely across jurisdictions, enabling unbiased reporting.

For more information contact ABB South Africa, +27 10 202 5105, [email protected], www.abb.com/za


Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Seamless automation system upgrade
ABB South Africa Industrial Computer Hardware
ABB has launched the ABB Ability Symphony Plus SDe Series, a portfolio of hardware products that help modernise existing process control system installations with minimal risk and disruption to plant operations

Read more...
Loop signature 22: How cyclical disturbances affect a control loop
Michael Brown Control Engineering Editor's Choice
When tuning noisy loops, we recommend in our courses that one should eliminate the noise by editing it out, so the tuning will be done only on the true process response, free of any noise. The controller is controlling the process, and is not controlling the noise.

Read more...
High-performance motion control for teabag packaging machine
Beckhoff Automation Editor's Choice
Teepak relies on PC-based control and drive technology from Beckhoff to set new benchmarks for speed and precision in its teabag packaging machines.

Read more...
VEGA takes the pressure out of water pressure measurement
VEGA Controls SA Editor's Choice
Water treatment systems in metropolitan areas require careful monitoring and management processes across widespread networks. However, process plants choosing VEGA for their process automation know that the company offers more than just precise and reliable pressure sensors and instrumentation.

Read more...
Advantages of wireless storage tank and container tank level monitoring
Turck Banner Southern Africa Editor's Choice
Implementing a tank monitoring system that utilises ultrasonic or radar sensors in a wireless network has many advantages.

Read more...
Bringing Industry 4.0 to a castings foundry for heavy industries
Editor's Choice
Moving to Industry 4.0 takes time and determination, especially for an established company in a heavy industry. Castings foundry, POK in Mexico has moved toward Industry 4.0 in a series of steps over several years, changing from manual to automated systems for more available, immediate and reliable data.

Read more...
SMOM – the future is here now
Iritron Editor's Choice IT in Manufacturing
In his presentation at the recent MESA Africa conference, Neels van der Walt, business development manager at Iritron, revealed the all-encompassing concept of smart mining operations management (SMOM), and why it is inextricably linked to the future of worldwide mining operations.

Read more...
Navigating disruption in manufacturing
Editor's Choice IT in Manufacturing
When considering IT in manufacturing, the underlying assumption is twofold: first, a wave of valuable maturing technologies can be harnessed to create new business value, and second, the environment in which these technologies will be applied will be relatively predictable, with change following a manageable, evolutionary path. However, recent disruptions have shattered these assumptions.

Read more...
The fascination of movement
Editor's Choice Motion Control & Drives
A motor from Faulhaber provides gentle motion for the finest watches in the world.

Read more...
ABB wins award for excellence in emissions monitoring
ABB South Africa News
ABB has earned this year’s Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award in the global emissions monitoring systems industry.

Read more...