The beta version of the Waste Methane Assessment Platform (Waste MAP), the first-ever global platform to use satellite monitoring to track and measure the locations and amounts of methane emissions from waste, was launched at COP28 in Dubai.
The platform has been developed by the Global Methane Hub, in collaboration with the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)/GHGSat, and Carbon Mapper.
The Waste MAP was one of the six projects awarded $5 million from the $30M pool of Google.org’s Impact Challenge for Climate Innovation this year, according to a release on the GMH site. The platform, which consolidates satellite information on landfill methane emissions, will enable local governments and NGOs to pinpoint the exact location of a methane source, allowing them to intervene and mitigate the emissions before they become hazardous.
The technology will help create safer living conditions for 135 million people around the globe by reducing public health emergencies created by methane, such as landfill fires, explosions, and air pollution.
The Global Methane Hub collaborated with the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)/GHGSat, and Carbon Mapper to develop the platform and was launched as a beta version at COP28 in Dubai.
Using machine learning and AI, the Waste MAP will include a global heat map of municipal solid waste emissions, a strategic playbook to guide decision making, case studies from global experiences, and a pilot mapping tool for stakeholders. The platform has already begun the implementation phase in India, USA, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Nigeria, among others, whose will benefit from increased access to granular and open-source waste and methane emissions data and from improved action for methane reduction.