Ember Labs launches two new tools to explore methane targets and satellite data

Ember has launched two interactive methane tools at Ember Labs, the new home of tools built by Ember analysts with AI. The Methane Target Builder lets users set a 2030 methane target for 95 countries and see what it would cost. The Coal Mine Methane Satellite Playbook shows how to choose and read satellite data on methane emissions from coal mines.

Human activity emits around 362 million tonnes of methane a year – and coal mines are a major source of methane. Cutting it is one of the fastest ways to slow global heating. Both tools are designed for the people working on it, from policymakers to analysts and journalists tracking emissions.

Methane Target Builder: what would a 2030 target cost?

The Methane Target Builder shows what a national 2030 methane target could involve and what it would cost, for any of 95 countries. It is designed for anyone thinking about methane commitments ahead of COP31, the UN climate summit. Most methane tools cover only fossil fuels. This one also covers agriculture and waste, which together make up more than half of methane from human activity.

Users pick a country and set a target. The tool ranks every available measure across all sectors by its cost per tonne of methane cut, then picks the cheapest first until the target is reached. Users can see the measures behind each sector, choose their own mix and download a chart of the results. It is a costing tool, not a forecast: it shows which measures exist and what they would cost, not what any country will or should do.

The experimental tool reveals the potential scale of methane reductions. Existing measures could cut up to 115 Mt a year by 2030, 32% of the global total. Around 47 Mt of that pays for itself, because the recovered gas is worth more than the equipment costs to run.

Ember’s data analyst, Rebekah Horner, built the tool. She used AI to combine the IEA’s Global Methane Tracker 2026 and UNEP’s Global Methane Status Report 2025 into a single dataset, and to build the tool’s method and interface. She then checked the method against current research and corrected any conversion errors.

“Countries heading to COP31 need to know what a methane target would involve in practice. With the Methane Target Builder, anyone can pick a country, set a target and see where the cuts would come from and what they would cost. For many countries, there are numerous cuts that pay for themselves, because the captured gas is worth more than the equipment,” said Rebekah Horner, data analyst at Ember.

Coal Mine Methane Satellite Playbook: learning on real detections

The Coal Mine Methane Satellite Playbook teaches people how to use satellite data to spot and understand methane released from coal mines. It is designed for analysts, journalists and regulators, and no specialist background is needed.

The playbook is built around case studies of real methane releases that satellites have picked up at coal mines. Users work through them step by step, from the methane plume seen from space to the mine it most likely came from. Once they know how to read the data, the playbook points them to the satellite datasets that best fit their own goals, type of mine and region. It also compares countries’ official coal mine methane figures with estimates from peer-reviewed satellite studies.

The tool was built by Ember’s earth observation scientist, Adomas Liepa, who used AI to turn his satellite expertise into step-by-step guides. AI was also used to develop the user interface and bring the data sources together, guided by human expertise.

“Satellite methane data on coal mines is public, but many people still don’t know where to start or what to expect from it. The playbook gives them that starting point, with real detections to work through and guidance on choosing the right satellite data product. You don’t need a PhD in remote sensing to explore satellite data,” said Adomas Liepa, earth observation scientist at Ember.

The detections use public data from Carbon Mapper’s Tanager-1 satellite and the EMIT instrument of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with mine infrastructure data from Global Energy Monitor’s Global Coal Mine Tracker. The playbook is free to use in a browser, with no login.

From prototype to long-term data product

Both tools are early versions. Users may find rough edges and provisional data, and can send feedback from each tool page.

The strongest Labs prototypes go on to join Ember’s suite of data products, after a production process that moves them onto stable, quality-assured data pipelines. User feedback will shape whether and how these two tools take that step, and Ember is inviting funders to help.