Various solutions using direct, independent observations of emissions by power plant worldwide
WattTime’s other solutions are enabled by access to granular emissions data that power plants in the United States are required to report to the US EPA. However, these data are not available in most countries, making it harder for organisations to accelerate climate action.
In order to make our solutions available globally, WattTime, along with our partners, began to explore the possibility of using satellite data to monitor emissions from power plants — regardless of whether the country it was located in reported it publicly.
In September 2021, we released the first comprehensive, independent database of global greenhouse gas emissions: Climate TRACE. This work grew out of the 2019 Google.org AI Impact Challenge we won to spearhead a collaboration to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from all large power plants worldwide using artificial intelligence. The project applies machine learning and computer vision trained on satellite imagery of these power plants matched against ground-based sensor data at the same times and places. In addition to one day making other solutions like Automated Emissions Reduction and Emissionality available anywhere worldwide, WattTime is also sharing free with the public the resulting emissions data, similar to how the US EPA makes emissions data from US power plants free and open.
Use cases to drive impact from this work center on opportunities where data like these can be used to reduce emissions, from supporting corporate sustainability efforts to enabling regulators to detect violations of local pollution control laws.
Request for collaboration
WattTime is eager to collaborate with anyone that wants to help build an ecosystem to generate GHG emissions data and apply it to drive impact. We particularly welcome collaborators who are:
1. Data Providers: Contribute non-public or unique datasets to improve our models. This could be company GHG disclosure data, sensor data, ground truth or remote sensing data.
2. Users: Tell us what data you need to reduce emissions, design policies or increase your impact on climate change mitigation.
Resources
How is WattTime using satellite data to track power plant emissions?
WattTime is using satellite imagery and AI to track emissions from every power plant in the world. Read more about it here.
How will WattTime use my company’s power plant data in its models?
Here’s how we use data and address data security concerns.