Greenhouse gas measurements

Developing and validating new sensing technologies to underpin commercial services

NPL is developing new cost-effective greenhouse gas (GHG) monitoring capabilities and services, with a focus on methane measurements and the potential for isotopic information, to support source attribution. 

We focus on emerging priority areas such as methane emissions from the natural gas supply chain, shale gas production and negative GHG emission technologies. This includes the development and validation of a new continuous GHG monitoring capability that provides real-time data on the mass emission rate for a site over the long term.

Research is also under way on isotopic GHG measurements to:

• identify whether changes in sources or the atmospheric sink are responsible for the current methane trend
• verify UK inventory estimates of methane emissions from the major sources
• inform us if policy efforts towards net negative GHG emissions will be effective

If the underlying isotopes making up these gases can be measured with greater confidence, ease and affordability, they will become a major tool in improving our understanding of these issues. We are developing new isotopic measurement methods for calibration at the highest possible precision and accuracy.

Find out more about NPL's Emissions monitoring services

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