Environmental Defense Fund and MethaneSAT

After organizing extensive research to assess methane emission at every stage in the oil and gas supply chain, Environmental Defense Fund established that the U.S. oil and gas industry emits at least 13 million metric tons of methane a year—nearly 60% more than government estimates—and that cutting oil and gas methane emissions is the single fastest, most impactful thing we can do to slow the rate of warming today. The MethaneSAT project was first announced in a TED Talk as part of The Audacious Project and quickly raised the significant funding necessary to design, build, launch and operate a novel satellite system that tracks global methane emissions, involving significant technological advances in both the design of the satellite instruments as well as the data processing needed to turn its vast stream of raw data into actionable science that oil and gas companies, governments, investors and others can use to shape and evaluate emissions reduction strategies.  

EDF worked closely with WFPC to design and spin out a structure of wholly-owned LLC subsidiaries to house the MethaneSAT project.  This structure allows EDF (a 501(c)3 public charity) to separate its long-standing strategies and activities from the very different financial, operational and legal issues arising from operating a cutting edge satellite company.  The EDF/MethaneSAT structure also allows the project to interact more flexibly with for-profit partners and foreign governments/agencies.