Re-imagining how methane emissions from the oil and gas industry are tracked and analyzed to drive large-scale emission reductions

Project Astra is a collaborative effort led by the University of Texas at Austin, which is at the forefront of methane detection and reducing methane emissions. The team is developing an innovative sensor network that will harness advances in methane-sensing technologies, data sharing, and data analytics to provide near-continuous emissions monitoring across oil and gas facilities in the Permian Basin and feed information into decision tools.

This first-of-its-kind high-frequency smart monitoring system will transform the way methane emissions are detected. It will identify sites with leaks, feed data to a central system that can quickly notify field response crews and speed repair, increase the frequency of inspections, and provide an affordable, efficient solution to help reduce total methane emissions that contribute to climate warming.