As part of a partnership program between Google and the Environmental Defense Fund, the MethaneSAT satellite is to be launched in March to track methane emissions. It will make 15 orbits around the Earth per day, according to Business Insider.

Scientists say that reducing methane emissions is one of the fastest ways to slow the climate crisis, as methane has 80 times more warming effects than carbon dioxide.

The International Energy Agency reports that the largest source of methane today is agriculture. The energy sector is in second place. The oil, gas, and coal industries are believed to account for 40% of global methane emissions from human activity.

The IEA believes that focusing on the energy sector should be a priority, in part because reducing methane emissions is cost-effective. The gas can be captured and sold, and the technology is relatively cheap.

But the problem is that methane emissions are difficult to track in real time, a problem that MethaneSAT is supposed to solve by integrating AI into the process of processing the collected data.

Google is to compile and present a new map to track emissions by the end of this year.