A prototype service to detect CO2 and CH4 emissions from human activities
The EU has set ambitious targets to cut emissions as part of its broader strategy to transition towards a low-carbon economy. Critical to this effort is a reliable and objective system to monitor human-caused CO2 and CH4 emissions across countries and track their changes over time. This system should provide consistent, reliable information to support informed policy decisions at national and European levels. To maintain independence in this domain, the EC has initiated setting up a Monitoring and Verification Support (MVS) capacity as part of Copernicus – the EU’s Earth observation programme. The MVS capacity is a technical system aiding policymakers and the scientific community by providing additional evidence on emission levels and trends. It links human activities with atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, helping to improve national greenhouse gas inventories and supporting the reporting efforts of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The MVS uses top-down verification from independent atmospheric observations, including high-resolution data from spaceborne sensors.
Pioneering advanced systems for CO2 monitoring
The EU-funded CoCO2 project was established to create the prototype systems for this MVS, which will integrate all available information streams in a globally consistent way. To this end, the initiative brought together expertise, existing resources and innovative ideas from various European and international players. “We made significant progress in developing prototype systems for the MVS. Key components included assessing the current state of in situ observation sites needed to monitor human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and using prior knowledge of emissions and natural fluxes as inputs to the MVS,” notes project coordinator Richard Engelen. “We also worked on integrating observations into models to estimate emissions as accurately as possible. The prototype systems considered CO2 emissions at global, regional and local scales.” Furthermore, specific emission sources like power plants and urban emissions were examined. Ultimately, new methods were devised to evaluate and control data quality for emissions that cannot be directly observed. A major challenge involved dealing with uncertainties in various parts of the MVS. These uncertainties typically exist in parts such as observations, prior information, modelling and data assimilation. Researchers also developed a user interface to ensure that the MVS would be highly beneficial and easy to use.
Blueprint for Europe’s planned Copernicus CO2 service
“CO2MVS is pushing the scientific boundaries needed for accurate and timely monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions. All project results are supporting the design and development of the new service element within the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS),” highlights Engelen. By combining satellite observations with the Earth system modelling and data assimilation capabilities of CAMS, the new MVS capacity will provide consistent and reliable information that can be used to support policy- and decision-making with respect to human-caused CO2 and CH4 emissions at local, national and European levels. The main elements of the MVS prototype were delivered in 2023, and the system should be fully operational by 2026.
Keywords
CoCO2, CO2 emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, human activities, Monitoring and Verification Support, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service
