Why was it so important we invest in Geo Financial
Too long have we looked away from addressing the Methane problem, which is far more potent than CO2. According to the US EPA data, in 2019, methane (CH4) accounted for about 10% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from the energy (O&G) and the agriculture sector. Methane is the primary component of natural gas, that is emitted to the atmosphere during the production, processing, storage, transmission, and distribution of natural gas and the production, refinement, transportation, and storage of crude oil. “Pound for pound, the comparative impact of CH4 is 25 times greater than CO2 over a 100-year period”
Currently, the global climate data is serviced by a mix of government and private sector providers with little transparency or standardization and with huge gaps in data and forecast availability. This dearth of data means climate and forecast information is often inaccurate, conflicted, or left stagnant for extended periods. A lot of the efforts to curb methane emissions in the O&G industry involve leaks, scientists are looking for better ways to spot these emissions which are extremely challenging, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and you can’t mitigate what you don’t measure.”
Most O&G companies and other large CH4 emitters make declarations about their emissions, and verifying these claims requires careful monitoring and analysis. Geofinancial Analytics analyses the actual observed emissions using actual observations from sites known to be owned by O&G companies, and compares it with reports published by those companies. In many cases they have already discovered major discrepancies. One of their tools, MethaneScan® 100 is a rating tool for assessing and comparing methane intensity of the 100 top listed global energy companies (by market capitalization), based on live satellite data analytics. MethaneScan® 100 uses a multi-layered strategy to attribute observed on-shore methane emissions to likely- responsible emitters, drawing on a diverse array of state-of-the art satellites and other validated data sources and technologies. MethaneScan® 100 provides the only available rating for easy comparison of a company's methane footprint with peers as well as expected environmental performance based on the company's reported methane emissions intensity, aligns with state-of-the art financial disclosure recommendations such as GRI 305:1-5, TCFD, and GHG Protocol.
More importantly, this team is a science-driven data analytics pioneer structured as a benefit corp, with deep technical expertise, is leading the revolution with radical transparency in detecting GHG emissions and attributing them to the parties responsible using remote sensing, by leveraging an advanced satellite-powered remote-sensing platform that rates O&G companies worldwide by observed – vs. self-reported – methane emissions:
Mark Kriss (CEO) is a serial tech entrepreneur and impact investor. Prior startups acquired by Dow Jones. (Financial analytics) and Cisco (network security). Both had 10x return to investors. Thought leader on sustainability/climate risk metrics.
Jessica Hellmann (Chief Scientist) International expert on climate adaptation & data science. Thought leader on solving grand environmental challenges. Director of world-renowned Institute on the Environment (IonE). University of Minnesota, Director of Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center.
Mustafiz Rahman (Chief Technical Officer and Remote Sensing Lead) Expert on mapping, modeling and monitoring physical environment using advanced remote sensing and geospatial tools.
