Google Street View’s familiar mapping vehicles are now roaming the streets of U.S. cities not only taking pictures but also identifying methane gas leaks.
In a joint effort between advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund, Colorado scientists and Google’s Street View programs, the vehicles have been equipped with special methane-sensing instruments.
Using infrared laser technology, the system can detect how much methane is in the air in real time. The instruments are so precise that they can detect a methane leak from about 65 feet (20 meters) away, including where pipelines run beneath the streets.
Describing the program, the lead author of the paper discussing the program, Colorado State University biologist Joseph von Fischer, said that many cities have no idea how much methane they are losing due to leaks.
“There have just been a handful of studies, and the problem is that it’s really very labor-intensive to measure the leaks from the distribution system.
“This is a scientifically sound tool that brings about really rapid and low-cost ability to find the largest leaks so they can be targeted for replacement,” he told The Washington Post.
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