A Constellation of Satellites Hunting Methane Leaks Is Launching Soon

A blowout in Ohio in 2018 was the first ever where the emissions could be measured from space, though it was at best a rough estimate based on data gathered on the 13th day after the XTO Energy well control event began. A year later, a blowout of a Devon well near Victoria, Texas, was measured starting the day after it occurred, with data collected on 3 days over the next 2 weeks. Using the measurement of carbon dioxide, it was estimated that the flare was 87% effective in burning about 4,800 metric tons of the leaking methane gas. Emission estimates varied wildly, and both the Ohio (Pandey et al. 2019) and Texas (Cusworth, Duren, Thorpe et al. 2020) efforts to use satellites led to technical papers to consider how they addressed this challenge. For those with blowouts next year, chances are a lot better methane-emission data would be available because of the launch of a constellation of specialized methane-measurement satellites by the two groups that played a key role in the earlier tests. In presentations at CERAWeek by IHS Markit, GHGSat said it has two methane-detection satellites in orbit and plans the launch of eight more, and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) said it is moving forward with the launch of its first one next year. Both are aiming to cover the lion’s share of oil and gas operations and measure the flow rate of the gas rather than concentrations in the atmosphere. They said they can do that far more accurately than was possible with the general-purpose climate observation satellites by focusing their equipment on the wavelength of methane. GHGSat said its satellites, which are about the size of a microwave oven, can measure the potent greenhouse gas from an elevation of 500 km and up. They are placed in polar orbit, which allows them to cover the globe every 2 weeks as the Earth rotates. Launching more satellites will allow more frequent looks. There are differences in the GHGSat and EDF designs, reflecting their contrasting missions. The Canadian company GHGSat, whose satellite initiative was initially supported by Schlumberger and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, is building tiny satellites with extremely high resolution to serve clients in the oil and mining businesses. During the presentation, Stéphane Germain, chief executive officer of GHGSat, displayed an image and said its satellites can tell if the methane is “coming from a particular facility and even tell what part of the facility it is coming from.” The company also sells the services of similarly equipped planes that can create more-detailed images using similar equipment at elevations of 3000 m and higher. EDF raised $100 million from donors, including Elon Musk, and has hired Raytheon to build a satellite equipped with a detector from Ball Aerospace. It can survey an area that is 260 km wide. That is far wider than the GHGSat satellites, which have the advantage of being able to zero in on smaller details when looking for leaks. The environmental group points out its device is more sensitive to methane emissions, detecting levels down to two parts per billion.

MODERN SPACE RADAR SYSTEMS OF EARTH MONITORING

This article explores brief overview of modern radar systems for imaging and monitoring the Earth from space. The operating radar systems are divided into four classes: large spacecraft with global monitoring SAR, medium-sized spacecraft with detailed observation SAR, small spacecraft with detailed observation SAR, and commercial mini-spacecraft with detailed observation SAR. Listed are the main representatives of each class. Such large satellites as: European – Sentinel-1 (A, B); Japanese – ALOS-2; Canadian company MDA – Radarsat-2; Argentine – SAOCOM-1A / 1B; Chinese – Gaofen-3. Representatives of the class of mid-size spacecraft with SAR: German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the leading European space company Airbus DS – TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X; Spanish PAZ; the Italian constellation of Cosmo-SkyMed satellites of the first and second generation; Japanese group IGS-Radar; Korean – KOMPSAT-5; Russian satellites “Kondor”. The small class includes Israeli mission satellites – TecSAR, RISAT-2 (India), Ofeq-10; Japanese – ASNARO-2, German satellites SAR-Lupe, English – NovaSAR-1. The last class of mini-spacecraft includes American - Capella and Finnish – ICEYE. The article also presents spacecraft for radar imaging, planned for launch, namely: the second generation of Italian satellites COSMO-SkyMed – CSG-2; 8 ICEYE spacecrafts (Finland); an increase in the Capella constellation, X-band radar satellites of the SuperView constellation and radar satellites Zhuhai (China); ALOS-4 JAXA (Japan); KOMPSAT-6 (Korea), radar satellites of the IRS constellation (India), American satellites XpressSAR, PredaSAR, EOS SAR, satellites of the Russian design Obzor-R1 and KondorFKA, as well as the space complex planned by ROSKOSMOS, including an orbital constellation of 6 small spacecraft for radar surveillance.

Nevsun Resources Ltd v. Araya and Others

Human rights — Modern international human rights law — Scope — Customary international law prohibitions — Forced labour — Slavery — Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment — Crimes against humanity — Addressing breaches of customary international law prohibitions — Role of national courts — Respondents claiming indefinite conscription through military service into forced labour in Eritrea at mine — Mine owned by Canadian company — Respondents claiming subjection to violent, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment — Respondents bringing class action against Canadian company in Canada — Respondents seeking damages for breaches of customary international law prohibitions and domestic torts — Justiciability of claim — Whether Canadian courts lacking subject-matter jurisdiction — Act of State doctrine — Whether claims based on customary international law to be struck — Whether pleadings disclosing no reasonable claim — Whether plain and obvious claims having no reasonable prospect of success Jurisdiction — Subject-matter jurisdiction — Whether Canadian courts having jurisdiction over respondents’ claim — Respondents claiming indefinite conscription through military service into forced labour in Eritrea at mine owned by Canadian company — Respondents claiming subjection to violent, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment — Eritrea’s National Service Program — Whether respondents’ claim concerning sovereign act of foreign government — Act of State doctrine — Whether part of Canadian law — Underlying principles of act of State doctrine — Conflict of laws — Judicial restraint — Whether respondents’ claim barred Relationship of international law and municipal law — Customary international law — Whether part of Canadian law — Whether conflicting Canadian legislation — Separation of powers — Customary international law prohibitions — Forced labour — Slavery — Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment — Crimes against humanity — Respondents relying on norms of customary international law in claim for damages against Canadian company — Role of national courts in developing international law — Evolution of customary international law — State practice — Opinio juris — Peremptory norms — Jus cogens — Whether customary international law norms applying to corporations — Right to an effective remedy — Canada’s international obligation under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 4771966 — Whether plain and obvious Canadian courts could not develop a civil remedy in domestic law for corporate violations of customary international law norms — Whether plain and obvious respondents’ claims against Canadian company could not succeed — Act of State doctrine — Whether part of Canadian law — Extent and scope Damages — Customary international law prohibitions — Forced labour — Slavery — Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment — Crimes against humanity — Breaches — Civil law remedies — Respondents seeking damages for breaches of customary international law prohibitions and domestic torts — Whether claim for damages for breaches of customary international law prohibitions under Canadian law possible — Whether norms different from existing domestic torts — Right to an effective remedy — Canada’s international obligation under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 — Whether plain and obvious Canadian courts could not develop a civil remedy in domestic law for corporate violations of customary international law norms — Whether respondents’ claims allowed to proceed — The law of Canada

Gold Mining Stakeholders: Diversity and Influence. Roșia Montană Case Study

Using historiography, online information and the stakeholders’ theory, this study focuses on the interested parties involved in a highly controversial gold mining project in Romania’s Roșia Montană area. The study documents the emergence and influence of different stakeholders (and the relationships between them). The research result suggests that company management and project investors (in this case involving the State as minority owner and regulator and a Canadian company as the majority owner) need to be aware of the objectives of a range of stakeholders including the general public, environmental campaigners and cultural agencies. They should identify shared stakeholder objectives and take these objectives into account when assessing the prospects of a mining project. Ultimately, these findings could be a lesson in political conduct for stakeholders involved in similar projects in other East European countries.

Barcelona Traction Share

This chapter discusses a share certificate issued by the defunct Barcelona Traction company, and explores the layers of its meaning and significance. First, to the general public it tells the story of a Canadian company, with Spanish subsidiaries, whose shares were mainly owned by Belgian citizens. Second, it reminds lawyers of the dispute between Belgium and Spain before the International Court of Justice, in the matter of the corporate hijacking of the company at the hands of Francisco Franco’s cronies. Third, it evokes to international jurists controversial technicalities like the nationality of transnational corporations and the nature of state obligations owed erga omnes, that is, to the international community. The chapter illustrates how a piece of paper has—within a certain epistemic circle—quasi-mystical connotations, speaking to the promises and the unfulfilled potential of international law.

Energy-Saving Technologies of the Coal Seams Development

In the production cost structure of a coal, which is extracted underground, more than 30 percent is the electricity cost. This is the consumption of electricity by the main fans of mine ventilation, mining and mechanisms that are used in the construction of underground excavations.The geomechanical problem of estimating the permissible width of the safety structure (pillar) in a longwall during the mining of a horizontal laying coal seam is given and solved and taking into account the economic expediency of reused a haulage drift. The mining-geological and mining-technical conditions of coal reserves mining in the Western Donbass at the mine "Samarskaya" are considered, which is accepted as a characteristic object of research.The task was solved in a complex way on the basis of a generalization of in situ and numerical experiments on digital models using the RS2 software complex of the Canadian company Rocscience.Dependencies of a residual sectional area of the re-used excavation on the width and the constructive flexibility of the protective structure are obtained.A technological clearance between the safety structure and the roof rock negatively effects on excavation stability reducing the residual sectional area and should be minimized.