Mapping Urban Methane Leaks by Driving Google’s Streetview Cars Through Them

MAPPING URBAN METHANE LEAKS BY DRIVING GOOGLE’S STREETVIEW CARS THROUGH THEM Meanwhile, in Los Angeles: Researchers are teaming up with Google to outfit Streetview camera vehicles with sensors to detect methane gas leaks in urban settings. The project, coordinated by the Environmental Defense Fund, found an average of 1 leak per every 4 miles driven around Pasadena, CA, and 1 leak per 5 miles in Chino and Inglewood.  Drives through Boston and Staten Island registered as many as 1 leak per mile.  The project is expanding to map more cities; no maps of Texas or Gulf Coast cities have yet been published. Researchers connected to the mapping initiative have also turned similar methane sensors on the neighborhood near the ongoing methane plume in Aliso Canyon, which has been uncontrollably leaking thousands of tons of natural gas since late October. [EDF via 538; Atlas Obscura]

2 Comment

  • What if I’m using methane in my own home between consenting adults? If some gets detected then that’s a violation of my rights as an Amercan.

  • Whenever there’s release of methane in a private home, one of the people is definitely not consenting, and the other one is laughing.