Decarbonisation Technology November 2026 issue

Satellite-informed methane decarbonisation By pairing orbital visibility with precision bioenergy engineering, orbital platforms can turn an environmental liability into a bankable, clean energy asset

Ihwan Rafina MosaiX

G lobal agricultural supply chains are policies and rising market expectations. While most strategies focus on grid power and solar, a concentrated source of greenhouse gas emissions remains largely untapped: methane venting from industrial wastewater across the tropical belt. Methane has roughly 80 times the warming impact of carbon dioxide (CO₂) over a 20-year horizon (IPCC, 2021) . Within palm oil milling, the organic wastewater generated during extraction – palm oil mill effluent (POME) – represents a major, historically unmeasured environmental liability. Capturing POME methane and converting it into power or renewable natural facing intense pressure to decarbonise, driven by tightening international climate

far from universal across major producing regions (Valverde, et al., 2024) . Open treatment ponds in palm oil production are rarely directly measured. Instead, asset owners and corporate buyers often rely on generic estimates that may not capture site- specific operating conditions or actual methane release rates. Without reliable, site-specific data across Southeast Asia, mill operators and clean-tech investors will struggle to justify the upfront Capex for capture-and-use infrastructure. Combining orbital satellite tech with ground-level precision engineering changes this equation, turning an invisible compliance risk and source of emissions into a quantified, investable energy asset.

gas (RNG) is relatively standard technology, yet it remains hugely underused across Southeast Asia (Valverde, et al., 2024) . Why? Cost or perhaps more due to a lack of verifiable data? Biogas systems are installed at fewer than 10% of palm oil mills (POM) in Indonesia, compared with around 30% in Malaysia and 12% in Colombia, indicating that methane capture remains

POME management by region (N/A excluded)

1,000 1,200 1,400 1,800 1,600 2,000

1,726

Open lagoon Covered + are Covered lagoon

0 200 600 400 800

224 196

135 64

62 13

Southeast Asia Pacic

Latin America

Africa

South Asia

North America

Figure 1 POME management in palm oil mill s

Source: Earthqualizer Global Palm Oil Mill List Database (2026)