S Somanath, chairman of ISRO and secretary of the Department of Space, stated that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has no plans to develop a satellite to monitor methane emissions but will develop one if asked during a press conference at the ongoing Indian Science Congress (ISC) in Nagpur on January 4, 2022.
Somanath claimed that ISRO already has technology to monitor methane emissions, which was used on the Mars orbiter launched in 2013, but that there are no plans to develop one for earth-based satellites.
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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and emissions of methane contribute significantly to global warming.
Methane is released into the atmosphere from a variety of sources, including agriculture (such as livestock and rice cultivation), waste management, and fossil fuel production.
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In recent years, there has been increasing concern about the impact of methane emissions on the environment, and efforts have been made to reduce methane emission in order to mitigate the effects of climate change.