Experts say satellites can track power station emissions in real-time, leaving polluters nowhere to hide.

Current CO2-tracking satellites can observe and help measure changes in CO2 emissions from a large power plant, allowing greenhouse gas emissions to be traced right back to the source, according to new research from Canada.

The researchers found that NASA's satellite ‘Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2’ (OCO-2) and the instrument OCO-3 on the International Space Station (ISS) were able to track the CO2 plume above Europe's biggest coal power station between 2017 and 2022. 

When they compared these measurements to estimates based on its known daily power generation - they found they closely matched, suggesting that existing satellites can already track emissions in close-to-real time for big power stations.

More details are accessible here.