Google Mapping Cars Help Detect Methane Leaks

Google Inc. is partnering with researchers from Colorado State University (CSU) and consumer advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund on a project that uses four of the tech company’s Street View camera cars to assess methane leaks in U.S. cities.

Special infrared laser sensors fitted to the top of the Google cars measure methane levels. CSU researchers developed an algorithm to determine the rate at which methane is leaking from natural gas pipelines and categorize them as small, medium or large.

The team also is developing a cloud platform to host the data, which includes about 2,000 points per minute for each vehicle.

The Google cars already have created methane leak maps in eight cities. The initial tests found urban locations, such as Boston and Staten Island, with older gas distribution lines buried close to the surface have significantly more leaks and higher methane levels than cities with newer lines.

Methane is said to be 80 times more potent than fellow greenhouse gas carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, according to CSU. The team estimates the largest 8% of leaks account for 30% of pipeline emissions.

The program, which is led by Joe von Fischer, a CSU biology professor, is described in a recent issue of Environmental Science and Technology.