This article started as a plug, but ends up as something else...
Planet, the company with the world's largest constellation of earth observation satellites, provides commercially available historical images of the whole earth for up to 2 years (and an archive back all the way to Aug 2008 if we add Rapideye.) Close to 100% percent of all land on earth has been imaged, each square kilometre having approximately more than 800 images taken since 2017. Everyday Planet is imaging the earth, achieving fullest coverge possible in a very short few days. All this data is now at your finger tips!
Planet's deep stack of hi-fidelity images affords actionable intelligence to researchers, governments, policymakers, environmentalists, NGOs, large corporations and businesses at an unprecedented level, in other words, an access to the truth as never before. Companies from the small to the juggernaut can now use Planet's images as proof of compliance with concession obligations, regulatory restrictions and environmental health and safety rules. Lessees can do so in order to ensure continued access to the economic benefits of their contracted leases. Conversely, the counter parties, regulators and landlords, usually the governments, are now able to accurately assess how lessees have kept up with complying to sustainable terms and have not allowed illegal or non-compliant activities to occur.
Deforestation (illegal logging, burning etc), illegal mining, waste dumping and even non-compliant flaring or venting (a process performed in oil refineries in which excess hydrocarbon gases are burnt in the flare systems in an uncontrolled or excessive manner. Flaring is allowed if done in an environmentally sound way according to regulations. Alternatively, gases could be simply vented into the atmosphere.) are but only a few among many activities that are now easily detectable and discernible from space. One only needs to subscribe to a free account to see daily images, to see the sometimes shocking truth. An industry colleague remarked that the emperor has no clothes when you look through the lenses of a Planet satellite! This also means that companies big and small now have access to information to help make sure they continue to remain sustainable or become even more so by turning carbon neutral. And better still, become carbon negative. If Bhutan can do it, we all can.
We face an uphill task that is getting steeper, to reduce pollution by carbon dioxide, by methane (tens times worse), or plastics, or you name it. The earth needs more hands on deck. Or we will sink. How we save the earth requires a first step and more. And perhaps it could be that you have read this article to the end. This started as a sort of a plug. But it doesn't really end the same way. My purpose was to create awareness, and awareness can bring enlightenment, and hopefully the enlightened will take action. While I don't have to explicitly disclose my day job (isn't it obvious by now) it's important to say that after what I've seen because of it, it doesn't matter what the day job is anymore. What matters is we have got to save this earth. I saw a meme with a poor boy holding a sign that says:" Why spend billions to go the Mars when we should be spending billions to save the earth?" Wise young boy.
Now we all need to wise up as well.
Act now.
References: https://pubs.spe.org/en/jpt/jpt-article-detail/?art=4573
https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/gasflaringreduction#7
Planet account : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJAiKH-cq1mZuIMipw6UcF-bnqMIkyQ68VTpbN7ekDbylUug/viewform
The views expressed here do not reflect those of Planet Labs Inc.
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