With more than 80 times the short-term warming power of carbon dioxide, methane is a significant climate threat. But finding and fixing methane leaks is no small feat and ground-based detection methods struggle to pinpoint this colourless, odourless gas. In this episode of Solve for X, host Manjula Selvarajah sits down with Stéphane Germain to discuss how his company’s fleet of microsatellites is transforming methane detection. By capturing data from orbit, this satellite technology offers new insights into methane sources, reshaping how we monitor and reduce emissions for a cleaner future.

Featured in this episode:

• Stéphane Germain is the CEO and founder of GHGSat, a global leader in satellite-based methane monitoring. With a background in aerospace engineering, he leads the development of microsatellites that detect greenhouse gas emissions from space, delivering critical data for climate action.

Further reading:

• UN climate summit host Azerbaijan’s gas flaring hits decade-high, study shows
• How MethaneSAT Will Track an Invisible Climate Menace From Space
• Global methane emissions rising at fastest rate in decades, scientists warn
• Methane emissions from gas flaring being hidden from satellite monitors
• New satellite will detect and share CO2 data from individual facilities

Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of high-impact solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. For more information, visit marsdd.com.

We’re facing a global ecosystem crisis. Within the last 50 years alone, wildlife populations across the world have declined by a shocking 69 percent. But technology, with help from citizen science, is emerging as one of wildlife’s greatest allies. In this episode of Solve for X, we explore how remote sensing, robot boats and DNA analysis could revolutionize wildlife preservation, offering hope for everything from insects to whales.

Featured in this episode:

• James Snider is the vice president of science, knowledge and innovation at World Wildlife Fund Canada.
• Elizabeth Clare is an associate professor of biology at York University in Canada. Her research studies biodiversity at all levels, developing novel genetic methods that address some of the biggest challenges in biodiversity science.
• Peter Fretwell is a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey. He’s the principal investigator of the Wildlife From Space Program, studying wildlife using satellite imagery.
• Madeleine Bouvier-Brown is a marine project scientist at Open Ocean Robotics. She handles the deployment of robot boats, retrieving data and analyzing it to deepen our understanding of the oceans.

Further reading:

• Loss of sea ice causes catastrophic breeding failure for emperor penguins
• Adventure on high seas inspired ocean drone
• Global wildlife populations have declined by 69 percent since 1970, WWF report finds
• Scientists can suck animal DNA literally out of thin air
• Caribou are vanishing at an alarming rate. Is it too late to save them?

Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of high-impact solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. For more information, visit marsdd.com.