Between the Poles

Satellite able to measure methane emissions from individual facilities launched

Last night, September 2 at 11:51 p.m. EDT at the Arianespace satellite launch base in Kourou, French Guiana (UTC-3) the VV16 mission launched 53 satellites, ranging in weight from 145 kg to 7 kg.  Among them was GHGSAT-C1 or "Iris", a 16 kg Canadian satellite that detects methane emissions from specific facilities at high resolution.

Background

Source Nature 14 July 2020

Annual emissions of methane (CH4) have risen by almost 10% in the past two decades primarily resulting from emissions from the oil and gas industry and livestock. A recent Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) study concluded that methane emissions from the U.S. oil and natural gas supply chain in 2015 amounted to about 2.3% of gross U.S. gas production and are about 60% higher than EPA estimates.

A 2016 study found that just a few natural gas wells account for more than half of the total volume of leaked methane gas in the United States. An extensive aerial infrared camera survey of 8000 production sites in seven U.S. oil and gas basins found that 4% of surveyed sites had one or more observable methane high-rate emission plumes. Furthermore the large variability in methane emissions for similar equipment and facilities in different geographies supports the hypothesis that equipment malfunction is a major source of emissions. To identify the sources of methane emissions oil and gas companies are increasingly attempting to detect and monitor emissions from their facilities including oil and gas wells, tank farms, and compressor stations.

An additional important business driver is the global carbon market which is currently estimated to be about $50B and growing. This provides a financial motivation for industrial emitters to measure and manage their emissions.

Until recently methane emissions have been measured on the ground in a a slow, laborious process using a hand-held scanner. Government-funded aircraft overflights or satellites have captured emissions over broad areas but with insufficient resolution to identify individual facilities as sources.

Satellite-based methane emissions measurement

In 2016 a privately-funded startup GHGSat launched a proof-of-concept cubesat named "Claire" weighing 15 kg to measure methane emissions from individual oil and gas wells, refineries, compressor stations, landfills, animal feedlots, rice paddies, and natural sources. The objective was to provide a satellite-based methane measuring device that would enable private industry to estimate emissions from its own facilities anywhere in the world. About the size of a microwave oven Claire orbits the Earth every 90 minutes. Its field of view is 12 km x 12 km and it has a spatial resolution of about 50 metres. Claire is able to measure emissions from over 1,000 sites per year.  The GHGSat-C1 or "Iris" satellite that was just launched has higher resolution (25 metres) and will be able to measure emissions much more rapidly with a 10x performance improvement compared to Claire.

Nanosatellites and drones represent a paradigm shift in measurement of methane emissions

Annual emissions of methane (CH4) have risen by almost 10% in the past two decades. The primary sources of methane are the oil and gas industry and agriculture, in large part from livestock.  Methane emissions are either measured on the ground, a slow, laborious process using a hand-held scanner or over a broad area using government-funded aircraft overflights or satellites.   But this is changing. In 2016 a privately-funded startup GHGSat launched a cubesat weighing 15 kg with 50 metre resolution to measure methane emissions from individual oil and gas wells, refineries, compressor stations, landfills, animal feedlots, rice paddies, and natural sources.

Background

Source Nature 14 July 2020

Annual emissions of methane have risen by almost 10% in the past two decades. Atmospheric concentrations of methane reached1,875 parts per billion in 2019 which is more than 2.5 times above pre-industrial levels.  The primary anthropogenic sources of methane are the oil and gas industry and agriculture, especially livestock production (enteric fermentation).

A study used spatial analysis to investigate the spatial distribution of anthropogenic methane sources in the United States by combining comprehensive atmospheric methane observations, extensive spatial datasets, and a high-resolution atmospheric transport model. Based on the results of this analysis the authors conclude that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) underestimates methane emissions nationally by 50%.  The study found that methane emissions due to the animal husbandry and fossil fuel industries have larger greenhouse gas impacts than indicated by existing inventories.

A study by Robert W. Howarth, Renee Santoro, and Anthony Ingraffea concluded that the emissions of methane from shale gas wells are between 30% and 100% more than methane emissions from conventional natural gas wells.  The study estimated that between 3.6% to 7.9% of the methane from shale-gas production escapes to the atmosphere in venting and leaks over the lifetime of a well.  The study suggested that the leakages are sufficiently large to erase the advantage of natural gas over coal in producing energy with lower emissions.

Another source of methane in the atmosphere are leaks from natural gas distribution systems.  A partnership between the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Google Earth released interactive maps showing methane leaks from gas distribution systems under the streets of Boston, Indianapolis and part of New York City.

In 2016 the Obama administration issues new rules regulating methane emissions from the oil and gas industry and requiring the monitoring and reporting of emissions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated U.S. emissions taking a bottom-up approach in which emissions from individual facilities are aggregated.  Other sources have used top-down measurements from aircraft overflights and satellites funded by government agencies.  A recent Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) study concluded that methane emissions from the U.S. oil and natural gas supply chain in 2015 amounted to about 2.3% of gross U.S. gas production and are about 60% higher than EPA estimates.

Measuring methane emissions

Measurements of oil and gas CH4 emissions are either captured by top-down (TD) or bottom-up (BU) collection methods. Top-down measurement of methane use aircraft and satellites and estimate emissions from many sources across large geographies. These are generally government funded.  Bottom-up studies measure emissions from individual pieces of equipment, operations, or facilities on site or directly downwind and can be industry funded, government funded or funded by a not-for-profit such as the EDF. Currently the way to scan an oil or gas field for methane emissions is visiting each facility and pointing a handheld device at the facility and looking for a telltale wisp indicating a methane leak. For an oil and gas field this can take weeks.  New technologies including nanosats and drones are radically changing how methane emissions are measured.

GHGSat

In 2016 a venture capital funded startup GHGSat based in Montreal launched a demonstration cubesat weighing 15 kg and named Clair.  The objective was to provide satellite-based methane measuring device that would enable private industry to estimate emissions from its own facilities anywhere in the world. An important business driver is the global carbon market which is currently estimated to be about $50B and growing. This provides a financial motivation for industrial emitters to measure and manage their emissions.

Claire orbits the Earth every 90 minutes. Its field of view is roughly 12 km x 12 km and it has spatial resolution of less than 50 metres. Claire is able to measure emissions from over 1,000 sites per year. 

The next two satellites (GHGSat-C1, or "Iris" and GHGSat-C2, or "Hugo") are scheduled for launch in 2020.  Iris, scheduled to launch in the middle of August, will have higher resolution (25 metres) than Claire and will be able to measure emissions much more rapidly.

Drones

In a recent Microdrones webinar, Bret Burghdurf described how drones are being used to measure methane emissions from 30 to 80 feet up in the air.  Capturing methane emissions using a methane detector carried by a drone is generally reliable, the only areas where it may not be are over standing water and deep snow.  The drone carries a camera in addition to the methane sensor allowing the facilities being monitored to be captured visually.  The device is capable of capturing 10 readings per second.  Typically over a facility such as a chemical plant, tank farm, compressor station or landfill a grid pattern is flown. Over a linear asset such as a pipeline the flight plan follows the pipeline.  The market for this type of measuring is typically the oil and gas industry itself.

Sentinel 5p TROPOMI

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Copernicus Sentinel 5 Precursor (5p) with the TROPOMI sensor onboard in 2017.  It can capture regional emissions of methane, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and other gases and aerosols for the entire earth every day. Sentinel 5p weighs about 900 kg and captures a swath width of 2,600 km with a pixel size of 7 km x 7 km.

MethaneSAT

Intended to launch in 2023 MethaneSAT will cover a 200-kilometer view path with a revisit time of every few days. The satellite weighs 350 kg and has a resolution of 100 m x 400 m across a 260 km swath. MethaneSAT is being developed by a subsidiary of the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Conclusion

Methane is a greenhouse gas whose concentration in the atmosphere is rapidly increasing.  The source of most of this increase is anthropogenic and being able to efficiently measure and monitor methane emissions is going to be critical in controlling and reducing emissions.  New technologies from privately funded companies and others including nanosat- and drone-based methane sensors are providing more efficient and higher resolution devices for measuring methane emissions from many different sources in the fossil fuel industry and agriculture.

Carbon dioxide emissions from electric power generation decoupled from economic growth in US

As a rule of thumb increasing electric power generation is closely coupled with economic expansion.  Between 2005 and 2017 the U.S. economy as measured by real GDP expanded by about 20 % from $15 trillion to $18 trillion. New data from the U.S. Energy Information administration (EIA) reveals that over this same period, emissions from power generation dropped primarily because of flat demand which is evidence of a decoupling between economic growth and power generation.

Data from the EIA reveals that during this time US power generation remained flat, but the makeup of U.S. power generation changed significantly.  Generation from natural gas now exceeds that from coal and generation from wind, solar and other renewable sources now exceeds hydroelectric generation.

With respect to emissions the change is even more impressive.  In a business as usual scenario assuming that demand continued to increase as it had prior to 2005, energy intensity (the energy required to produce a dollar of GDP) had remained at its 2005 value, and the energy mix had remained at its 2005 value, the expected emissions from electric power generation would have been about 3,043 MMmt (million metric tonnes). In 2017 actual emissions were much less, about 1,744 MMmt.  About half of the drop in emissions in 2017 compared to the projected business as usual emissions was due to less demand (654 MMmt).  Since the economy expanded over this time this is attributable to a drop in energy intensity and is evidence of decoupling of economic growth from power generation.  The other important factors were switching among fuels, primarily switching from coal to natural gas (329 MMmt) and replacing fossil fuels with non-hydro renewables (316 MMmt). 

In 2017 actual emissions from power generation were 43% less than that projected in the business as usual scenario and 28% below 2005 emissions. This is important progress toward the Paris accord targets (which the U.S. has dropped out of) since emissions from electricity generation are about 28% of U.S. total emissions.

Using publicly available environmental data in a spatial analysis of low birth weight babies

A spatial analysis of possible environmental factors contributing to the increase in the number of underweight babies born in Canada was presented by Charlene Nielsen at GeoAlberta 2018. Termed low birth weight at term (LBWT), this is the second most important cause of infant mortality in Canada and costs the medical systems hundreds of millions of dollars every year. It is also linked to childhood and adult diseases. Charlene's hypothesis was that environmental factors including chemical pollution, the man made environment, and socioeconomic level were contributing factors to low birth weight babies in Canada.  She used spatial analytics to study the problem which she used as the basis for her PhD thesis at the University of Alberta.

Using open, publicly available databases Charlene related the spatial distribution of low birth weight babies to geographical proximity to air-based chemical emissions or to land-based pollutants related to electrical power lines, dumps and solid waste sites, gas stations, mine sites and tailings, oil and gas well pads, transformer stations, and crop lands.

One of the publicly available data sources for chemical emissions that she used is the National Pollutant Release Inventory which has been maintained by Environment and Climate Change Canada since 1993.  It currently monitors the emissions of 324 chemical substances.

Her study found that air-released or land-based pollutants may be more important depending on geographical location. There was a greater correlation of low birth weight babies with the environmental factors she studied in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. While this study found that  environmental factors did contribute to low birth weight babies, these are not the only factors. This study was particularly interesting because it used the geographical distribution of low weight births and the spatial distribution of environmental factors to try to determine some of the factors contributing to low weight births. Secondly it used publicly available environmental data which demonstrates that this type of spatial analysis can be easily applied in other studies.

Low cost sensor enables citizen scientists to measure and share urban air pollution data over the web

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than seven million deaths every year are linked to air pollution exposure from household and ambient (outdoor) air pollution. But in spite of these statistics the average city has only one or two air quality monitoring devices which are very expensive costing about $1.5 million each. At this year's FOSS4GNA (Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial North America) get together in St Louis Steve Liang, a professor at the University of Calagary and CEO of SensorUp, described a way that citizen scientists can contribute to measuring air pollution using a low cost board and CPU and share via open source geospatial web software to map the resulting measured air pollution in real time.

Based on the latest results from WHO air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk, linked to 12% of all global deaths. Around 4.3 million deaths every year are attributed to exposure to household (indoor) air pollution, from heating, cooking and lighting using solid fuels. Around 3.7 million deaths every year are linked to outdoor air pollution , including exposure to fine particulate matter from fuel combustion from vehicles and from power plants, industry and biomass burning.

Steve described the sensors, which are typically built by interested people in workshops led by staff from SensorUp, a startup that Steve leads. The devices consist of a sensor that measures PM2.5 (particles less than 2.5 microns in size), temperature and humidity, a CPU and Wifi. Each device costs less than $100. After building the device, each participant in the workshop brings it home and installs it outside within wifi range of their internet router. The sensor reports ambient PM2.5, temperature and humidity every 5 minutes to a central server maintained by SensorUp. It uses the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard SensorThings API which provides an open and unified way to interconnect Internet of Things (IoT) devices, data, and applications over the Web. SensorUp SensorThings platform is the most advanced OGC SensorThings API implementation.

A web application built on the open source geospatial software Leaflet allows users to view the data on a map in real time, investigate air pollution historically and compare different cities. The data is open and accessible to anyone.  To date about 500 people across Canada have built their own devices and are sharing measured PM2.5. The real-time feed from these devices is mapped here.

Developing a national 3D strategy in the Netherlands

At the GeoBIM Building and Infrastructure Conference in Amsterdam Rob van de Velde and Friso Penninga of Geonovum presented an overview of what has been achieved to date with respect to 3D data and technology at the national level in the Netherlands and what they see as the next major step, the development of a national 3D strategy. 

 

BIM and geospatial (2D and 3D) are key underpinnings of 3D.  The Netherlands has been at the forefront of implementing BIM in the construction industry.  Just as importantly in the long term, the Netherlands has been leading the geospatial-BIM integration initiative.  It has long been recognized that geospatial/BIM integration is essential for building and infrastructure operation and maintenance or what is referred to as full-lifecycle BIM.

 

Years ago private Dutch engineering and construction companies began adopting an integrated geospatial/BIM approach to construction.  I blogged previously about a firm Royal BAM Group nv / BAM Infraconsult that adopted integrated BIM and GIS because many of its projects require full life-cycle BIM.  At the first GeoBIM conference in Amsterdam, Jothijs van Gaalen gave some real world examples of Design, Build, Finance and Maintain (DBFM) highway construction that included GIS+BIM integration. BAM's motivation for investing in BIM+GIS are market developments especially more complex construction assignments and an increasing demand from customers for service provision throughout the entire life cycle of a project.   As another example, ARCADIS Netherlands has delivered a number of projects that integrate geospatial into the design process. 

The Netherlands has also been leading in the development and application of open BIM/geospatial standards‎ in the construction industry including NL/SfB, BS&I, ETIM, CB-NL, IMGeo, CityGML, NLCS, GB-CAS, COINS, IFC, VISI, SALES, National Model BIM Protocol, and National Model BIM Implementation Plan.  The Netherlands has created a BIM Loket (BIM Gateway) that is intended to be a national portal for information about BIM and for management of open BIM standards in the Netherlands.  It provides a central information centre for open BIM standards including related geospatial standards. 

Geospatial

Within government the Environment Planning Act is responsible for a growing focus on the physical environment.  There is also a greater desire for an integrated approach to modeling the physical environment.  Citizens are asking questions that require accurate 3D modeling, for example, noise, air quality, light and shadow, and viewports.

There have been several initiatives at the national level in the Netherlands.

• 2010 3D pilot exploring possibilities of 3D including IMGeo and CityGML
• 2012 3D pilot exploring Geo-BIM integration
• 2014 "Breakthrough 3D" - application of 3D in many domains

The last "Breakthrough 3D" initiative revealed that 3D technology had matured and that there were many initiatives asking for uniform 3D data.

BIM

The Dutch Building Information Council (BIR) has been encouraging BIM for a long time - I blogged about BIR and BIM in the Netherlands previously.  One of my takeways from the recent RICS BIM conference in London was that there is a desperate need for standards, especially to classify the huge amount of date in addition to the 3D geometry that accumulates during a construction project.  Much of this data would be useful to the FM folks who are responsible for operating and maintaining the building after construction if it were accessible.

From both the perspective of geospatial data for modeling the environment and BIM data for modeling the built environment, it's time for the next step:  a government initiative for a national 3D strategy.  The concept is to create a 3D production chain, capable of creating timely, accurate and reliable 3D geo-information.

Gap analysis - what's available vs what's needed

The Netherlands has a digital elevation model ( AHN or Actual Height Model) with nationwide coverage but the update cycle is on the order of eight years.  What's needed is a nationwide point cloud that is updated at least once a year.  There are a number of ways including new technologies this could help achieve this.

The Netherlands has national 2D core data, large scale topographic data that is open and universally accessible.  It has no equivalent in 3D.  One way to generate this rapidly are reliable techniques for automating the extraction of buildings, infrastructure and natural features from point clouds.

The Netherlands has a national portal for disseminating 2D data.  The national geoportal PDOK has experienced  3-4 billion hits in 2016.  For 3D data, PDOK needs to be upgraded to be able to serve 3D data. 

 

For 3D data there are standards for exchanging 3D data about cities and BIM model such as CityGML and IFC.  What's needed are standards for distributing and viewing 3D data.  Another important outstanding challenge is developing an interface between CityGML and IFC.

Rob emphasized that developing a national 3D standard is about identifying and involving stakeholders, understanding user requirements, and realizing the individual components, but more importantly it is about aligning individual initiatives, thus optimizing 3D supply chain.

IEA World Energy Outlook projects world warming greater than 2° C based on COP21 committments

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has issued its annual World Energy Outlook 2016.  The IEA has examined several scenarios. All the Paris COP21 climate pledges from 190 countries have been incorporated into its main scenario.  (It does not include any assessment of what the Trump administration may do with respect to the COP21 committments made by the world's second largest emitter.) It has projected that this scenario will actually result in 2.7 °C of warming.  A scenario, called the 450 Scenario, with a 50% probability of limiting global warming to 2 ° C was also examined.

In its main scenario which includes emission reductions from COP21 pledges, the IEA projects a 30% rise in global energy demand to 2040.  In 2040 it is projected that 60% of all new power generation capacity will come from renewables.  In 2040 renewables are projected to represent 37% of all power generation.  By 2040 most renewables-based generation is projected to be competitive without subsidies. Solar PV is expected to see a further 40-70% reduction in cost by 2040 and onshore wind by an additional 10-25%. However, fossil fuel generation continues to be important. Natural gas consumption is projected to rise by 50%.  Growth in coal use essentially stops while growth in nuclearpower is limited to China.

Energy-related CO2 emissions plateaued in 2015 mainly because of a 1.8% improvement in the energy intensity of the global economy.   This is partly because a growing proportion of the $1.8 trillion currently invested in energy annually is directed to renewables.  But the IEA projects that even with the COP21 commitments energy-related emissions will continue to grow by 0.5% per year.

It is projected that a cumulative $44 trillion in investment will be needed in the global energy supply over the next 15 years.  60% of this will go to oil, gas and coal extraction and supply, including power plants using these fuels, and nearly 20% to renewable energies. Another $23 trillion will be required for energy efficiency improvements.   For comparison over the last 15 years, 70% of total energy supply investment went to fossil fuels.   This scenario requires a significant reallocation of capital from fossil fuels to renewables. This is aided by dropping fossil fuel subsidies.  In 2015 the value of fossil-fuel consumption subsidies dropped to $325 billion, down from $500 billion the previous year.

The IEA projects that the COP21 commitments will slow the projected rise in global energy-related CO2 emissions.  However, it does not believe that this is enough to limit warming to less than 2 °C.  The IEA's 450 Scenario, which is based on a 50 % probability of limiting warming to under 2 °C, requires a further major reallocation of investment capital going to the energy sector. A greater proportion of the $40 trillion in cumulative energy supply investment has to move from fossil fuels and towards renewables and other low carbon investments in nuclear and carbon capture and storage so that the share going to fossil fuels would drop to about a third. In addition, $35 trillion is needed for improvements in energy efficiency - that's $12 trillion more compared with the main scenario. The 450 Scenario implies that before the end of this century, the energy sector must become carbon-neutral.  That means all residual emissions from fuel combustion are either captured and stored, or offset by technologies that remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Global methane emissions 60 to 110 % greater than current estimates

Methane has the second-largest global radiative forcing impact of anthropogenic greenhouse gases after carbon dioxide. In addition to anthropogenic sources, mainly fossil fuels, livestock and waste, natural methane sources include the biosphere (wetlands, termites, oceans, wildfires, and wild animals), volcanoes and geothermal emissions, and geological seepage where large quantities of natural gas migrate from shallow or deep rocks and reservoirs to the surface along faults and fractured rocks.

Estimates of emissions have come under increasing scrutiny. A recent study assessed the spatial distribution of anthropogenic methane sources in the United States by combining comprehensive atmospheric methane observations, extensive spatial datasets, and a high-resolution atmospheric transport model. It was concluded that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) underestimates methane emissions nationally by a factor of 1.5.

The concentration of methane in the atmosphere stabilized from about 1999 to 2007.  But here is evidence that since 2007 it began rising again.  A recent study suggests that the more than 30% increase in U.S. methane emissions over the 2002–2014 period could account for 30–60% of the global growth of atmospheric methane seen in the past decade.

In a study just published the global methane budget and the contribution of the fossil fuel industry to methane emissions has been reevaluated. The ratio of carbon-13 to carbon-12 provides a signature which helps identify the source of methane. Both global methane and methane carbon isotope (carbon-13) records were used to compile what is believed to be the largest isotopic methane source signature database, including fossil fuel, microbial and biomass-burning methane emission sources. Total fossil fuel methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry plus natural geological seepage are 60 to 110 % greater than current estimates. After accounting for natural geological seepage, it is found that methane emissions from natural gas, oil and coal production and their usage are 20 to 60 % greater than current estimates.

Next generation weather satellite will support nowcasting

As the electric power industry generates increasing amounts of renewable energy from intermittent sources such as wind and solar PV, the ability to nowcast radiance and wind velocity with km resolution up to 25 minutes in advance has become essential to balancing electricity demand and supply.  This is the newest area where geospatial technology (wind at different altitudes, radiance, and temperature mapping) November 4 of this year NOAA and NASA will launch the GOES-R geostationary weather satellite which will provide support for nowcasting across the continental U.S..

GOES-R's Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) will collect three times more data and provide four times better resolution and more than five times faster coverage than current GOES. The GOES-R series satellites will also carry the first lightning mapper flown from geostationary orbit. The Geostationary Lightning Mapper, or GLM, will map total lightning (in-cloud and cloud-to-ground) continuously over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions.  GOES-R will provide coverage over a 1000x1000km box with a temporal resolution of 30 seconds, and spatial resolution of 0.5 to 2 km. It will completely scan the continental U.S. every 5 minutes, providing coverage of the 5000km (E/W) and 3000km (N/S) rectangle over the United States.

The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) supports a wide range of capabilities relating to weather nowcasting and climate monitoring including aerosol detection and measurement, including smoke and dust, clear sky masks, properties of clouds and moisture, downward shortwave radiation,  fire/hot spot characterization, hurricane intensity estimation, land surface temperature, radiances, rainfall rate, reflected shortwave radiation, sea surface temperature, snow cover, total precipitable water, and volcanic ash properties.

GEOS-R enables “nowcasting” of severe storms across the continental United States. GOES-R will fly the first operational lightning mapper flown in geostationary orbit.  It will cover land and oceans. Total lightning (in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-ground) information from GOES-R will increase lead time for severe storm warnings because it will make it possible to observe areas of severe weather every 30-60 seconds. This will enable more reliable warnings and evacuations.

Greening the Delhi Metro System

The Delhi Metrorail Corporation (DMRC) has signed an agreement with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) that will make it possible to incorporate the unique needs of metro installations and mass rapid transit systems for new metro stations and depots within the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) green building rating system. India is one of the USGBC's top five countries for LEED.

This summer two of Delhi Metro's new stations were awarded the platinum (highest) rating for adherence to green building norms of the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).  IGBC's Green Mass Rapid Transit System rating is the world's first exclusive rating system to address sustainability in new municipal rail systems.  The IGBC rating system enables new rail based municipal rapid transit systems (MRTS) to apply green concepts during design and construction to reduce environmental impact.  The rating system ranks stations and depots and on a scale of platinum, gold, and silver depending on their adherence to IGBC specifications.  All 90 new metro stations which will be completed by 2016 as part of Delhi Metro's Phase 3 are green buildings.  In addition five new solar power facilities have been installed by Delhi Metro at different stations, depots and residential enclaves.

The Delhi Metro is a remarkable achievement in other respects in addition to green.  The Government of India and the Government of Delhi jointly set up the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in 1995.  The DMRC is a special purpose organization with great autonomy and powers. The DMRC has full powers to hire people, decide on tenders and control funds.  The initial phase of the $2.3 billion project wrapped up in December, 2005, on budget and nearly three years ahead of schedule.  According to Business Week "A well-run subway is a marvel even in a first-world city. In India, where public works are often models of dysfunction, it's nothing short of a miracle."  One reason was that DMRC relied on private funding from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation and other international organizations.