New Mexico company to monitor oil field pollution from the sky

Apr. 24—The state aims to put an eye in the sky to monitor oil field emissions.

As New Mexico boosts oversight of methane and other pollutants wafting from the state's oil and gas wells, officials are looking for the most efficient ways to detect and measure emissions to keep them within bounds.

Sceye Inc., based in Moriarty, will take on this lofty task.

The company will operate a helium airship that can hover in the stratosphere some 65,000 feet above Earth, equipped with spectral imagers and laser sensors that can scan emissions within a meter of their source.

And because the ship can remain geostationary, rather than passing over a site as conventional aircraft do, it can stay focused on a pollution source — such as a well leak — collecting data and generating images for as long as necessary.

The high-altitude precision and the ability to sustain tight surveillance set this platform apart, Sceye CEO Mikkel Frandsen said.

"Those two combined are truly revolutionary, and I don't use this word lightly," Frandsen said.

The stratospheric venture, still in the testing phase, is a partnership involving Sceye, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and two state offices — the Environment and Economic Development departments.

The terms of the contract, including how much Sceye will be paid, are still being worked out, Frandsen said.

Sceye offers a more efficient and less costly way to help the state survey wells as it toughens regulations on pollution, he said.

The airship will undergo several tests in the coming year, including ones to demonstrate it can carry the necessary payload to perform the monitoring, with the goal of being operational by late 2023, he said.

In an email, Environment Department spokesman Matt Maez wrote Sceye's aerial technology would be an effective tool to add.

"Sceye's approach is to 'park' in the stratosphere ... for continuous data gathering over the region as opposed to a single pass monitoring event using helicopters, airplanes or inspectors with handheld devices," Maez wrote. "With this in mind, NMED plans to employ an 'all of the above' approach to assure compliance with applicable laws, rules and permits."

Maez added the state is studying and comparing the costs of various monitoring methods.

The primary focus will be methane, a potent greenhouse gas researchers estimate is 80 times more powerful in warming the Earth over an 80-year period than carbon dioxide.

A recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found methane increased by 17 parts per billion last year, the largest annual increase since such measurements began in 1983.

However, the airship will be capable of surveying other pollutants, such as the nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds that form ground-level ozone, a toxic gas that can cause respiratory ailments.

Regulators have said they plan to use evolving aerial technology to ensure fossil fuel operators comply with the newly approved ozone precursor rule, which is aimed at reducing ozone in and around oil fields.

"For years, New Mexico relied on the oil and gas industry to voluntarily address emissions issues," Maez wrote. "And yet our ozone levels increased, proving that unless you monitor and enforce rules and permits, improving air quality and meeting climate goals will not happen."

Sceye's airship has a reflective silver color and is shaped like a blimp, though it doesn't operate like a blimp, which is traditionally gas-powered.

The airship will be solar-powered during the day and battery-powered at night, Frandsen said.

Frandsen described Sceye as the most recent venture in his social entrepreneurship, designed to serve a greater good.

His company LifeStraw supplies straws that can filter out bacteria and parasites, allowing people to drink water safely from rivers in communities that lack plumbing.

Vestergaard Frandsen, another company, makes bed nets designed to keep out malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

Although Sceye was recently established in Moriarty, Frandsen said his work in high-altitude methane monitoring goes back years to when he was in Switzerland.

The European Space Agency expressed interest in technology that can capture images of emissions closer to the ground, he said. The agency's satellites can scan methane 5 to 7 kilometers above the Earth, versus Sceye's ability to view within less than a meter, he said.

"So there's an order of magnitude difference in the granularity with which we can see methane leaks," Frandsen said.

That enables them to pinpoint the actual emission source, he added.

Frandsen said he's also looking to use the airship to provide broadband coverage in underserved communities and for early wildfire detection in California.

These services, he said, could be offered in New Mexico or anywhere else they are needed.

For now, his priority is making the high-altitude monitoring a reality, which he is confident will happen in the next year.

"We are seeing the New Mexico Environment Department is being incredibly helpful; they are good partners, and they want this to succeed," Frandsen said.